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Silver Bowls. Frontispiece. 



SILVER BOWLS. 

» 


BY 

MRS. GEORGE A. PAULL, 

(MINNIE E. KENNEY) 

AUTHOR OF “CHRISTIE’S HOME-MAKING,” “CHRISTIE’S NEXT 
THINGS,” “MRS. MORSE’S GIRLS,” ETC. 




c . 




AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 



1 50 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 




COPYRIGHT, 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
1893. 



Gontrnts 




CHAPTER I. 

An Opportunity page 7 

CHAPTER 11. 

Plans 19 

CHAPTER III. 

Starting Out 32 

CHAPTER IV. 

Making Acquaintance 47 

CHAPTER V. 

New Ideas 60 

CHAPTER VI. 

An Unexpected Summons 70 

CHAPTER VII. 

Finis - - — 79 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Coming Home 91 

CHAPTER IX. 

Plans - - — 102 


6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Over the Mountains 396 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

In the Trossachs 406 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Sight-Seeing 416 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The End 426 


SILVER BOWLS 


CHAPTER I. 

AN OPPORTUNITY. 

“ There, that is the last one, and I am glad 
of it !” 

It was with a sigh of relief that Louise Rush- 
ton uttered this exclamation, as she folded a pair 
of well-darned stockings and dropped them upon 
the pile which already filled the work-basket. 

Clasping her hands above her head, a favor- 
ite attitude when she was in a thoughtful mood, 
she leaned back in her rocking-chair and fell 
into a reverie so deep that she did not hear the 
door-bell ring nor the voice of her most inti- 
mate friend asking for her. Not even the light 
footsteps upon the stairs attracted her attention, 
and it was not until Ella Lindsay’s voice broke 
upon her ears that she aroused from her thoughts. 

“A penny for your thoughts, Louise !” 

“ Do n’t be recklessly extravagant, my dear. 
They are n’t worth half that magnificent sum,” 


8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


exclaimed Louise, jumping up to greet her friend 
with so much eagerness that the work-basket 
was knocked over and its contents sent flying 
hither and thither. 

“Just like me!” Louise remarked, as Ella 
helped her to gather up the stockings which had 
rolled like balls in every direction, and to replace 
the scissors, pin-ball, needlebook, and the other 
paraphernalia of a work-basket which were scat- 
tered about. “ I am always exemplifying the 
laws of gravitation, as Miss Giddings used to say, 
when I upset things generally. I do n’t suppose 
any one else could possibly have knocked that 
basket over without deliberately trying.” 

“ Do n’t glory in your capacity to turn things 
topsy-turvy without trying,” laughed Ella, as 
order was restored at last, and she dropped into 
the low wdndow-seat which was the greatest 
charm of the room. “ And now tell me why 
you were in such a brown study. What were 
you thinking about ?” 

“ I was imitating those Buddhists, Moham- 
medans, or whatever they are, who give them- 
selves up for a certain time to thinking about 
nothing,” Louise returned. “I was just reach- 
ing that beatific state when your voice broke in 
upon me and shattered the charm.” 

“I shall really begin to believe that you 
could n’t think in earnest about anything if you 


AN OPPORTUNITY. 9 

tried,” her friend answered. “You are the most 
perfectly ridiculous girl, Louise !” 

“ Well, how could any one have any thoughts 
left after she had been darning stockings for two 
hours ?” queried Louise. “ I can’t say that it is 
altogether monotonous work, for the different 
sizes of the holes offer some room for reflection ; 
but it isn’t stimulating to one’s imagination.” 

“ But you certainly were n’t thinking about 
stockings,” persisted Ella. 

“ Can’t I convince you that I was thinking 
about nothing?” asked Louise. “ I was thinking 
about the holes in the stockings then, if I wasn’t 
thinking about the stockings ; and I should like 
to know if a hole is not simply nothing, bounded 
by ragged edges ?” 

“ If you have darned all those stockings it is 
time you rested your brain and Angers both,” 
Ella said. “ I am going to the postofflce, and I 
came in to see if you did not want to walk down 
with me.” 

“Yes, if you don’t mind waiting a few min- 
utes while I make myself a little more present- 
able,” Louise answered, putting aside her apron 
and shaking off the bits of lint and yarn that 
clung to her dress. As she let her hair fall in 
shining brown waves about her shoulders, and 
began to brush it energetically, she said, 

“ I suppose I might as well tell you what I was 


lO 


SILVER BOWLS. 


thinking about just then, only I am rather 
ashamed of being so discontented. I was wishing 
that I might make more of myself in the next 
four years than I have in the four since I left 
school. I do n’t mean that I consider them abso- 
lutely thrown away, for I hope our class motto 
has made them of some use to those about me. 
I have tried to ‘ Doe ye nexte thynge,’ but I 
can’t help getting restless sometimes. I want a 
special object in life besides doing the little 
things that come in my way. Most of the girls 
that were in our class at school are outgrowing 
me, and I have ambition enough not to be will- 
ing to be the last in the race. I was just running 
their names over in my mind. I had a letter from 
Christie Stanley last night, telling me of all the 
work she is interested in and of all her plans for 
the future ; and I know without her saying it 
just what an ideal minister’s wife she makes, 
loving, thoughtful, and helpful to every one that 
comes near her. She is just as she used to be. If 
any one is in trouble, Christie has only to know 
it to go to the rescue at once. I really believe it 
makes her happier to be doing something for 
some one else than to please herself in any other 
way.” 

“Yes, she is the most perfectly unselfish girl 
I ever saw,” Ella responded heartily. 

Christie had not lost her place in the hearts 


AN OPPORTUNITY. 


1 1 

of her old schoolmates because their paths had 
diverged, and they still held her in loving re- 
membrance for her unselfish ways and loving 
deeds. 

''‘Then there is Achsah Howe,” resumed 
Louise. “ She is going to make a name for her- 
self yet as a writer, and I suppose that some day 
we shall be very proud of having been in the same 
class with her at school. It always seemed too bad 
that we never got really acquainted with her in 
all the years she was there until just the last few 
days. Poor old Ishmael ! She did have a hard 
time of it, with her pride and her shabby old 
dresses. I have wished so many times since then 
that we had only known how it was and had 
been kinder to her. I am sure she has forgiven 
all of us long ago for teasing her as we did, but 
I am so sorry every time I think of it. The rest 
of us had such good times at the Institute, and 
she got left out of them all, except just at the 
last ; and after all it was only through Christie 
that even graduating night was not the worst of 
all.” 

“ I always knew that Achsah was clever, but 
I never realized it fully till that night when she 
carried off all the honors,” said Ella. The old 
school-days did not seem so very far away as 
they recalled them. 

“Well, to proceed with the roll,” went on 


12 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Louise. Florence Dinsmore is studying art and 
working away at painting with all her might and 
main. Grace Davenport is the leader of society 
here in Weston ; and though I do n’t think that 
I would choose that for an aim in life if I could, 
yet there are ever so many lovely things that she 
can and does do just because she has more in- 
fluence than most people. No one but Grace, for 
instance, could have made that poor little lame 
French girl who embroiders so beautifully the 
latest craze ; but because it was Miss Davenport 
who was trying to get up a class for her, and in- 
tended to belong to it herself, every one who 
could join it was eager to do so, more for the 
sake of .saying that they were in the same class 
with Grace than for any other reason. I know 
it would n’t strike one as missionary work, and 
yet it has meant a comfortable living for the girl 
and her blind mother, in the only way she could 
have earned it, while they might have been 
really suffering for the necessaries of life if it 
had n’t been for Grace. I could n’t have done 
what she did, no matter how much I wanted to 
help the girl.” 

“ Grace is always doing such things,” assented 
Ella Lindsay. “ She does gracious things in such 
a gracious way that it never hurts or wounds 
any one, and I do n’t think there is one person in 
Weston who envies her father’s wealth and all 


AN OPPORTUNITY. 


13 


tlie luxuries she has. She is just as nice as she 
used to be at school, and as unspoiled as if she 
were not flattered and sought after on all sides.” 

“You, Ella, have a double object to live for, 
as you are studying to be a medical missionary, 
and so you have both the enthusiasm of the work 
and the study to keep you interested,” Louise 
proceeded. “ Elsie Dunning is n’t amounting to 
anything more than I am. She just has a good 
time, and does n’t trouble herself about doing 
anything else. Last of all there is my worthless 
self, who couldn’t do very much if I had un- 
bounded opportunities, for I have n’t any special 
gifts nor graces ; but yet I would dearly like a 
chance. I do love music, though I do n’t suppose 
I have any talent for it. It is the one thing that 
I have tried to keep up ever since I was at school, 
and if I could only take lessons and have a chance 
to practise, I might at least make enough of it to 
be of some help to father after a while by teach- 
ing. My cousin is going to have a splendid op- 
portunity this winter, and I suppose that is what 
has made me wish so particularly for it just now. 
There ’s no use in wishing however; it only 
makes me discontented, so I ’ll stop building my 
air-castles, and content myself with being the 
failure of the class.” 

“ Now, Louise, I wont let you say anything 
like that about yourself,” exclaimed Ella indig- 


14 


SILVER BOWLS. 


nantly. You are just the very sunshine of the 
house. You know as well as I do what a help 
you are to your mother, and you know too that 
there is more heroism and self-denial in doing 
little bits of disagreeable things bravely and 
cheerily than in writing the most beautiful poem 
or painting the grandest picture. Great things 
bring an inspiration with them that drudgery 
does n’t, and I am proud to have any one as true 
and unselfish as you are for my dearest friend.” 

Louise flushed with pleasure as her friend 
spoke so enthusiastically, though she returned a 
laughing response. 

“ I am afraid you are easily made proud, 
goosie, if you are proud of such a fly-away as I 
am. There now I am ready to go out. What a 
lovely afternoon it is !” 

Is n’t it perfect !” was the response, as the 
two girls went out into the golden sunshine of 
the October afternoon. 

Long avenues of maples were the crowning 
glory of Weston, and just now, when the autumn 
fires had touched them with crimson and gold, 
they were in the height of their beauty. The 
streets were carpeted with the bright-colored 
leaves which had been blown down, and every 
now and then the girls were tempted to pick up 
some particularly beautiful one. 

It was a pleasant walk down to the postofflce, 


AN OPPORTUNITY. 


15 


and one which many of the young people took 
every afternoon. It was Saturday afternoon, and 
Ella had just come home from the city where 
she spent the rest of the week studying medi- 
cine, and the two had much to talk about as they 
walked along. 

The mail had not been distributed when they 
reached the office, and they had to wait a few 
minutes, but they felt well repaid for their walk 
when three letters each were handed out to them. 

“ I wonder what Aunt Belle has written to 
me so soon again for,” Louise remarked, as she 
glanced at the superscriptions upon the envel- 
opes which she held in her hand. “ I only an- 
swered her last letter on Wednesday. If you will 
excuse me for glancing over it, Ella, I think I 
will gratify my curiosity.” 

Certainly, read it by all means,” Ella an- 
swered, and Louise drew the letter out of the 
envelope and began to peruse its contents as 
they walked along. 

“Oh!” 

“ What is it ?” asked Ella eagerly, as she 
looked at her friend, and saw that her face was 
radiant with delight. 

“ Oh, pinch me quick, and wake me up ! I 
feel as if I was dreaming. If I am awake then 
I am the happiest girl alive. My opportunity has 
come after all.” 


i6 


SILVER BOWLS. 


‘‘ What is it ? Tell me about it !*’ asked Ella 
as eagerly as her friend could have wished, and 
for answer Louise put her aunt’s letter into Ella’s 
hand and bade her read it for herself. 

“My dear niece,” the letter ran, “it was a 
great temptation in my last letter to say some- 
thing to you about a plan that I was trying 
to put into effect for you as well as for Dora 
this winter ; but lest there might at the last 
moment be some disappointment about it, I re- 
solved to wait until I was sure that there would 
be no obstacles in the way. Everything has 
turned out exactly as I could have wished it, 
however, and now it only remains to see whether 
you will approve my plan. Will you come and 
spend the winter with us, and take vocal and 
instrumental music lessons with Dora? I will 
not say anything about any other nice times that 
may possibly come in, for I want it to be espe- 
cially an industrious winter, and one in which 
you will make great progress with so good a 
teacher. It will be no expense to you at all, and 
you can feel that you are making full return by 
being a companion to Dora and helping her to 
keep up her interest in her studies. Let me 
hear from you as soon as you can talk the 
matter over with your father and mother. I 
hope you can be spared, for it will be a great 
pleasure to us to have you. With love to all 


AN OPPORTUNITY. 


17 


the family, and especially to your dear mother, 
I am 

“ Your loving 

“AUNT BELLE.” 

“Isn’t that almost like a fairy story!” ex- 
claimed Louise, as her friend finished the peru- 
sal of the letter. “ Ever since I heard that Dora 
was going to study music this winter I have 
been perfectly feverish to have the same ad- 
vantages, but I never dreamed even of the pos- 
sibility of such a thing as this coming to pass. 
I feel sure that I can go, which makes it all the 
more delightful. Two years ago if an invitation 
like this had come I could not have accepted it, 
for mother could not have spared me ; but now 
that Nellie has grown to be such a help about 
household matters, and really seems to enjoy 
helping mother and making herself useful, it 
seems as if it would be right for me to fit my- 
self for greater helpfulness, if I have a chance.” 

“ It is almost too lovely to be true 1” answered 
Ella, as delighted over her friend’s good news 
as if it were her own. “Just when you were 
wishing so for it, too. I am so glad, Louise, and 
I wont say a word about how much I shall miss 
you, but only think about the pleasure you will 
have. What a delightful winter it will be ! and 
you deserve it, if ever a girl did.” 

“ Nonsense, I do n’t deserve it a bit,” Louise 


i8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


answered. But none tlie less I shall enjoy it 
with all my heart. I can hardly wait to walk 
home to tell father and mother about it. I 
know how pleased they will be. To think that 
after I had given up all hopes, my opportunity 
should have come at last !” 


PLANS 


19 


CHAPTER II. 

PLANS. 

Six-YEAR old Dottie was ringing the tea-bell 
vigorously when Louise bade Ella good-by and 
went into the house with her precious letter 
clasped tightly in her hand. 

“ I will give you three guesses each, and then 
I do n’t believe any of you will guess what is in 
this letter,” she said gayly, holding it up, as the 
family gathered about the table in their accus- 
tomed places. 

Dora is engaged,” hazarded Nellie, who 
was in her seventeenth year, and regarded an 
engagement as almost the greatest event in 
any one’s life, scarcely to be exceeded by a wed- 
ding. 

‘‘ No, indeed,” Louise answered promptly. 
“ Something better than that.” 

‘‘ Are you invited to a party ?” asked Dottie, 
to whom that seemed the most desirable thing 
that could be imagined. 

“You are partly right, pet,” answered Louise, 
smiling at her little sister’s earnest tones. “ I 
am invited somewhere, but it is n’t to a party.” 

“ You are raising my curiosity,” her mother 


20 


SILVER BOWLS. 


said, as she began to pour the tea. “ What is it ? 
I am sure I cannot guess, as Nellie and Dottie 
have failed.” 

I am invited to spend the winter with Aunt 
Belle, and take lessons in music with Dora from 
that splendid teacher who is forming a class. 
You remember, do n’t you, mother? Dora wrote 
all about him two weeks ago, and I have been 
longing ever since to take lessons too, but I never 
thought that I should have the chance.” 

“ I do n’t call music lessons anything par- 
ticularly nice,” exclaimed Fred, as he helped him- 
self to a hot biscuit. 

‘‘ Your tastes and mine differ sometimes, you 
know, Fred,” Louise retorted. “ I did n’t think 
that there was anything particularly nice about 
that big beetle you were so delighted with a few 
weeks ago.” 

“ That was because you could n’t appreciate 
him,” Fred answered. He ’s the best specimen 
in my collection.” 

“ Perhaps a lack of appreciation is why you 
do n’t think that music lessons are nice,” Louise 
replied. “ But, mother, is n’t it just the loveliest 
plan ? I feel as if I must be dreaming. Listen 
while I read Aunt Belle’s letter.” 

Although Nellie, Fred, and Dottie seemed 
rather disappointed that the important news 
was not something more delightful, there was 


PLANS. 


21 


no lack of appreciation upon the part of their 
father and mother. 

“Can I go?” Louise asked eagerly, although 
she was quite sure that consent was already 
given. 

“Of course you can, my dear daughter,” 
her father answered. “ I am only too glad to 
have you enjoy such an opportunity of improving 
yourself. Nellie has grown to be such a help 
to your mother that we can manage to spare 
you better than we ever could have done before ; 
and though of course we shall miss our sun- 
shine, yet not one of us would be willing to 
have you refuse such an invitation. It is very 
kind of your aunt.” Louise’s delight was re- 
flected in her mother’s smiling face. 

“We will all help you to get ready as soon 
as possible, so that you can be there for the very 
first lesson,” her mother said, and the rest of 
the meal was given up to the discussion of what 
Louise would need for her visit. 

All the family were interested now, and when 
Dottie understood that Louise was going away, 
and that she was talking about what she should 
get to wear, she exclaimed, 

“ Sister can have my pink sash with the 
rosebuds on the end. You will be careful and 
not get ice-cream on it, wont you, sister ?” 

Dottie had worn this sash to the two parties 


22 


SILVER BOWLS. 


which were the greatest events in her short life, 
and she considered that such caution belonged 
to the sash. 

“ You are a dear generous little girl, but 
sister wont want your sash,” Louise answered. 
“ You shall keep it to wear yourself the night I 
come home again.” 

Dottie looked relieved, for her sash was her 
favorite possession, and although she loved her 
sister with all her heart, and really meant her 
offer, yet she was very glad that it was not ac- 
cepted. 

Very few girls spend the first twenty years 
of their life as uneventfully as had Louise. 
Since her school-days there had been no event 
to break the monotony of daily routine, yet she 
had changed greatly in these years, although she 
was not conscious of it herself. She was still 
as full of fun, and as ready to make laughable 
speeches and join in any prank, as in her school- 
days, but the indolence and selfishness that had 
marred her character then had been almost en- 
tirely overcome, and she was a loving, helpful 
daughter and elder sister. She let the motto that 
the graduating class had chosen for their watch- 
word when they left their school-days behind 
them, Doe ye nexte thynge,” run like a golden 
cord through her life, making every little deed 
that came to her hand well worth doing, since 


PLANS. 


23 


it was “ ye nexte thynge ” that had been planned 
for her. 

The tired, anxious look had vanished from 
her mother’s face since her daughter had 
shared her cares and labors, and the home-life 
had been a happier one. Louise had been 
happy, too, in the consciousness that she was 
trying to be useful, although her sphere of use- 
fulness was but a small one. It extended some- 
what beyond her home, however, for in the work 
of the church and Sunday-school she could al- 
ways be depended upon to do her part, and she 
was one of those who are needed to fill up the 
chinks. 

She had taken charge of the sewing-class in the 
mission-school at Factory ville, and between her 
various duties rarely had time to sit down and 
sigh for a wider sphere. Once in a while how- 
ever a restlessness took possession of her, and 
she felt as if she must have an opportunity to 
make more of herself, so that her life might be 
fuller and more satisfactory. Now an opportu- 
nity had been put in her way, and she welcomed 
it all the more eagerly because she had scarcely 
dared to hope for it. 

The next two weeks were very busy ones. 
There was a great deal of planning and a care- 
ful making over of old garments and discussion 
about new ones, while every day saw the pile 


24 


SILVER BOWLS. 


of sewing gradually diminishing beneath the 
busy fingers. It was decidedly the most impor- 
tant event in Louise’s life, and her thoughts 
were full of joyous anticipation. If she could 
not have been spared, if she had thought that 
by going away she would leave too heavy a 
burden of care to rest upon her mother’s shoul- 
ders, she would have made up her mind to stay 
at home, however reluctantly, but it seemed as 
if it was right for her to avail herself of this 
opportunity of improvement. 

“ For once in my life I can be as happy and 
selfish as I like without feeling wicked about it,” 
she said to herself gleefully, as she stitched 
away at the long seams and made the machine 
fly to the accompaniment of a cheery song. 

When Lousie was a little girl one of her favor- 
ite books had been Miss Edgeworth’s “ Moral 
Tales,” and one of the stories had made a deep 
impression upon her. As she grew older it re- 
turned to her mind with peculiar aptness when- 
ever she tried to accomplish an object without 
sufficient material for the purpose. 

Her childish sympathies had been greatly 
aroused for the little girl who tried over and 
over again to wrap up a filigree basket that 
was intended for a birthday present in a piece 
of paper that was too small for the purpose, and 
when she began to share in the cares and econo- 


PLANS. 


25 


mies of the household, she continually likened 
herself to this little girl, perpetually trying to 
wrap something up in an impossibly small piece 
of paper. 

“ Somebody always has to go without some- 
thing,” she said once to Ella. “ Mother pinches 
and pulls and skimps to make the money cover 
all that has to be done with it, but it is n’t a bit 
of use. When there isn’t enough you can’t 
make it enough by any amount of contriving. I 
am always glad of one thing ; there is n’t any 
stern father to drav/ moral reflections upon the 
subject. We all make the best of it and cheer- 
fully hope that there will be enough next time. 
We know that there is n’t any probability of this, 
as it never has come to pass, but still we are 
optimistic, and do the best we can. It does n’t 
matter so much for us youngsters, but I hate to 
have father look so tired and work so hard 
when he does n’t get paid for it half the time, 
and I want mother to have more comfort ; but 
they both seem as happy as if they had every- 
thing in the world to make them so.” 

Since Louise had been old enough to know 
anything about the resources of the family there 
never had been enough of an income to supply 
the continually increasing necessities of the 
family. Dr. Rushton was one of the most 
popular physicians in the place, and had a large 


26 


SILVER BOWLS. 


practice, but unfortunately it was not tbe class 
of practice that is particularly remunerative. 
Because the poor people knew that he would 
give just as much attention and care to a case 
for which he did not expect to be paid, and be- 
cause his bills were so small when he knew that 
his patients were unable to make much return — 
and needed the knowledge that their illnesses 
were not running up large bills to struggle with 
after they were restored to health, to give them 
the freedom from anxiety which would mate- 
rially aid in their recovery — the good doctor 
had the largest practice in town and the smallest 
income. 

Sometimes his friends remonstrated with 
him for his liberality, and told him that he was 
being imposed upon, but it was of no use. A 
pitiful story of want always touched his heart, 
and oftentimes, though but few knew it, not 
only was his attendance given, but the medicine 
and some of the nourishing food afterwards 
were supplied by the kind man. 

“ It would be a great deal harder for me to 
press a bill when I know people need the money 
for the necessities of life, or to know that suf- 
fering was unrelieved because there was no 
money to pay a physician, than to give my ser- 
vices,” he would say when he was expostulated 
with. He was paid royally in the way that per- 


PLANS. 


2; 


haps he most appreciated. Every one loved 
him, and the trust and confidence which his 
cheery, genial presence inspired in a sick-room 
did as much good as his medicines. Still love 
and gratitude would not supply the needs of a 
growing family, and Louise wished many a 
time that she had been a boy and could have 
helped her father to add to their income. As 
she was a girl, and her mother needed so much 
help about the household duties, there was no 
question but that her place was there for a 
few years ; still the thought that now she could 
fit herself to lighten her father’s burden of care 
made her very happy. 

‘‘You don’t know how extravagantly well 
dressed I shall be, for me, this winter,” Louise 
remarked to Ella Lindsay one afternoon when 
her friend had run in for a little chat. “ I have 
always been like Bella Wilfer’s father, in ‘ The 
Mutual Friend.’ You remember his chief am- 
bition was to have a new suit all at once. I be- 
lieve I know that passage by heart : ‘His black 
hat was brown before he could afford a coat, his 
pantaloons were white at the seams and knees 
before he could buy a pair of boots, his boots 
had worn out before he could treat himself to 
new pantaloons, and by the time he worked 
around to the hat again, that shining modern 
article roofed in an ancient ruin of various peri- 


28 


SILVER BOWLS. 


ods.’ Well, that has been my case always. I 
have had new things, but I never managed to 
get them all together before. If I had a new 
coat one winter, I had to make over last winter’s 
dress ; and when I had a new dress I had to 
disguise its glories under an old-fashioned coat ; 
and the pleasure of anything new has always 
been spoiled for me until the last tw’o years by 
the fact that it had to be purchased with an 
economical eye to the possibilities of growth in 
future, and when it was new it had to be baggy 
so that I would not outgrow it by the next sea- 
son. ‘ ’T was ever thus from childhood’s hour,’ 
until the last two years, when I stopped growing, 
and so could have new things and things to 
fit me at the same time. But this outfit nearly 
turns my head. Think of one bran - new dress, 
my best one made over, a good every-day dress 
that still has a good constitution, though I wore 
it as best all last winter, and a new coat besides ! 
I am positively worldly. I feel as if I should 
overawe the music teacher with my finery. I 
know I shall be oppressed myself with a con- 
sciousness of it. I shall need a little time to get 
used to it before beginning my lessons. ” 

Ella laughed, as Louise vanished into the 
depths of a large wardrobe to emerge in a 
moment with a pretty tea-gown of gray, bright- 
ened up with touches of crimson velvet. 


PLANS. 


29 


“ This is the pride of my heart though, after 
all,” she exclaimed, holding it up for inspection. 
“ I have wanted a tea-gown ever since I have 
been old enough to want anything. But it al- 
ways seemed a piece of pure extravagance to get 
one before, for as a matter of fact I should only 
need it to wear about the house when I was 
busy in the morning, and I have never had any 
scarcity of half - worn dresses that were very 
good for just that purpose. Now, as I have to 
make a presentable appearance at Aunt Belle’s, 
it was really a needful thing, and so I am happy 
by having my ambition gratified at last. Is n’t 
it a beauty?” 

It is lovelyd” Ella answered, and Louise 
slipped it on to show how well it fitted her 
and what a comfortable garment it was. 

“We have made everything ourselves, so we 
managed to squeeze quite a wardrobe out of 
the money father could spare me. Just to think 
that I shall be there a week from to-day! I 
do n’t believe I can possibly enjoy everything 
after I get there more than I enjoy anticipating 
it. I mean to work with all my might at music, 
and then next winter perhaps Miss Giddings 
will want me to teach the younger pupils for 
her, instead of having a teacher come out from 
the city ; and I can still go on practising, and 
be able to help father besides. It must be de- 


30 


SILVER BOWLS. 


lightful to feel one’s self a help instead of a bur- 
den. I feel as if I had turned over a new leaf 
and begun a very interesting page in my life.” 

“ I know just how happy you will be with a 
special object in view,” Ella answered, “ I have 
been so happy since I began studying medicine. 
It ’s hard work and it takes nearly all my time, 
and yet I could not be half as happy if I were 
only trying to have a good time. I enjoy the 
study with all my heart, and besides that there 
is the happiness of knowing that I shall be able 
to put it to a good use as a missionary. A help- 
ful life is the happiest of all, I know.” 

“ I wonder if all my plans will really come 
to pass,” Louise said, as she hung the tea-gown 
up again and stroked its folds with a loving touch. 
“ It seems as if they surely must, for they are 
not plans that need great talents to execute. It 
does n’t seem like much of an ambition to want 
to be a music teacher, and yet if I can be that 
and help father, I shall be satisfied. I know 
that I shall never amount to very much, for I 
have n’t it in me. It used to fret me sometimes 
to know that I must always be commonplace, 
and could n’t hope to make a name in the world, 
but that verse that I learned one New Year’s 
Eve, when we all met at Christie’s and watched 
the old year out, seemed just written for me, 
and has made me satisfied.” 


PLANS. 


31 


“ I have forgotten what it was,” Ella answered. 

Louise repeated it with a more thoughtful 
look upon her face than was often seen there : 

“ ‘ Thou earnest not to thy place by accident, 

It is the very place God meant for thee ; 

And shouldst thou there small scope for action see, 
Do not for this give room to discontent 
Nor let the time thou owest to God be spent 
In idly dreaming how thou mightest be.’ 

“ So if it is the very place God meant for me, 
it is just as well worth filling as if it were a 
greater one ; and if I can’t do great things, there 
are plenty of little things to do, and some one 
has to do them. There is the tea-bell. Stay 
and take tea with us, Ella, for you wont have 
many more chances before I go away.” 


32 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER III. 

STARTING OUT. 

When Mrs. Rushton had said that it would 
take about two weeks for Louise to get every- 
thing in readiness for her visit, it had seemed 
as if so long a time would never pass ; but there 
had been so much to do that the days had 
slipped imperceptibly away, and only the night 
before the day planned for her journey were 
the last stitches taken and the last preparations 
made. 

It had been a very unusual event for any 
member of the family to go away from home, 
and when the trunk that Mrs. Rushton had 
taken on her wedding journey was brought 
down from the attic for inspection, it proved to 
be in very serviceable condition, and not at all 
impaired during its long period of idleness. 

Louise had not expected to be at all home- 
sick ; but when the last morning came and the 
family gathered about the breakfast table, a 
lump arose in her throat that would not be 
swallowed dov/n, and she found that the tears 
were very near her eyes. After this meal her 
place would be vacant in the dear home circle, 
and no matter how happy she might be in her 


STARTING OUT. 


33 


new surroundings, she would miss the home 
faces. As her father conducted family prayers 
the tears came, and she half wished that after 
all her opportunity had not come, that she 
might still go on in the same old way, even 
though it had been a quiet, uneventful one. 

It was a very subdued parting, although 
every one tried to be brave and help Louise 
to keep her self-control ; but it was the first 
break in the family circle, and even little Dot- 
tie realized that no one could fill sister Louise’s 
place in the home. 

Dr. Rushton drove his daughter down to 
the station, and saw her off, and Louise always 
loved to remember that little time, in which he 
spoke so lovingly and tenderly to her and told 
her what a comfort she had been in the home. 
If she had known that it was to be a last good- 
by, she could not have wished for any more lov 
ing last words or a fonder farewell caress, and 
when the train came up, and she realized that 
in a moment more she would be on her way, 
she felt like yielding to the impulse which made 
her long to throw her arms around his neck 
and beg to be taken home again with him. 

An eight-hours journey was before her, and 
the thoughtful kindness of her aunt had pro- 
vided her with a seat in the parlor car, so that 
she might have as comfortable a journey as 

Silver Bowls '1 


34 


SILVER BOWLS. 


possible. Her father saw her safely seated, and 
then as the locomotive gave a warning shriek, 
he gave her one last kiss and stepped off the 
train. She pressed her face against the window 
and through a mist of tears saw the dear figure 
standing beside the well-worn buggy, with its 
low top, that as a little girl she had called “ a 
sunbonnet.” She tried bravely to smile as she 
waved farewell, and in a moment more she was 
really on her way, and leaving behind the 
familiar objects among which she had spent her 
life. 

Her natural feelings of regret began to wear 
off after a while, and the novelty of the journey 
absorbed her thoughts. There was a great 
deal to make the trip a delightful one. There 
was the pleasant consciousness of looking her 
best, which is always a satisfaction to a girlish 
heart. Her travelling dress, though plain, 
was neat and becoming, she had an interesting 
book to read, her chair was very comfortable, 
she had the daintiest and most appetizing of 
lunches, put up by her dear mother’s own loving 
hands, and there was an ever-changing picture 
of the country in all its autumnal glory, framed 
in by the window-sash, to attract her eyes. She 
had been obliged to do without so much in her 
life that she appreciated any little luxury or 
comfort far more than one would who had al- 


STARTING OUT. 


35 


ways accepted it as a matter of course. The 
mere fact of having a seat in the parlor car was 
a source of great gratification to her, and as her 
eyes complacently rested upon her neatly gloved 
hands and the pretty travelling bag which had 
been a farewell gift from Ella Lindsay, she re- 
flected, with a smile, that at last she knew just 
how Bella Wilfer’s father felt when he had his 
whole new suit of clothes at once. Her keen 
sense of the ridiculous had enabled her to find 
amusement even in her deprivations, and now 
it enhanced her pleasure in her possessions. 

She had one change to make before reach- 
ing the end of her journey, but her aunt had 
written such very full directions that Louise 
was sure she would have no difficulty in finding 
her way from one station to the other. All the 
family had felt a certain sense of responsibility 
in getting Louise safely started, and from the 
time she had opened her eyes that morning one 
after another had besieged her with inquiries as 
to whether she had surely put her purse in her 
bag, or whether she was sure that her ticket 
was safe. Dottie had asked several times with 
great earnestness whether sister had a clean 
pocker hankerfish, and had to have the bag 
opened before her eyes, so that she could see 
for herself whether that very necessary article 
was really there. Fred was sure she would for- 


SILVER BOWLS. 


36 

get to take lier watch-key, and was not satisfied 
until he had seen it in her pocket-book with his 
own eyes ; while Nellie was chiefly concerned 
about the lunch, being quite sure that she would 
go off without it. There was one thing, how- 
ever, that every one had forgotten. Without 
thinking much about the matter, except that she 
must be sure not to lose it, Louise had carefully 
put her aunt’s letter of directions in her trunk, 
where it was undoubtedly very safe, but not of 
the least possible service to her now. 

“How provoking!” Louise exclaimed to 
herself, as, after she had been travelling for 
about an hour, she thought she would look over 
it and become familiar with the directions. “ I 
wonder if I could possibly get it out of my 
trunk. I do n’t suppose there is any chance of 
it though. It was just like me to do such a 
stupid thing, and now I shall not have the first 
idea how to get over to the other station. I 
shall have to ask every one I meet. Oh dear.” 

It hardly seemed possible that she would 
be able to open her trunk, but she remembered 
that the letter was one of the last things that 
she put in it, and she knew that she could get 
it if she could only raise the lid for a moment. 

When the porter came through the car a few 
moments later, she decided that she would ask 
him if there was any way in which she could 


STARTING OUT. 


37 


get to her trunk. That important functionary 
seemed to doubt it, but said that he would inquire 
of the brakesman. Louise had made up her 
mind that his errand was a fruitless one, he had 
been gone so long, when he returned with the 
brakesman, who told her that as very few trunks 
had been put on the car after hers, it was possi- 
ble that she could easily find it. He carried off 
her check to find the trunk, and came back 
after a little time to tell her that he had found 
it, and if she would follow him he would un- 
strap it for her. Louise followed him unsteadily 
through car after car until she came to a com- 
partment at the end of the smoking-car, where 
she was delighted to find her trunk with a few 
others. It had been already unstrapped, and it 
was only a moment’s work to unlock it and lift 
the lid. The letter was there, just where she 
had put it, and she dropped it in her bag, re- 
solving never to do such a careless thing again 
as to put a necessary article in her trunk. 

She had passed through two cars on her way 
back when the train gave a shrill whistle. 

“We are just coming to quite a long tunnel,” 
the brakesman said. “ Perhaps you would 
rather wait here till we are through than pass 
from one car to another while we are going 
through it.” 

“ Yes, I would rather wait,” Louise answered, 


SILVER BOWLS. 


38 

as they plunged into the darkness. The car 
was full, and as she glanced over the passengers 
she was doubly grateful to her aunt for pro- 
viding her with so comfortable a seat in the 
parlor-car, this car looked so crowded and un- 
comfortable ; and in one seat was a woman with 
a baby in her lap and two little children beside 
her, all crowded together. In the semi-darkness, 
which was only made visible rather than lighted 
by the flickering lamp, Louise could not see 
anything more than the baby’s figure, although 
she stood very near it, but she heard a feeble 
wail that sounded like the voice of a sick 
child. 

As the car passed out from the tunnel into 
da5dight again, Louise looked at the little group 
before she went on her way to her own car, 
partly from curiosity and partly from kindly 
interest. It was evidently a very sick child that 
the mother held so tenderly, Louise could see 
that at a glance, and the pale, tired little woman 
looked half sick herself. She was trying to 
quiet the two other children, who were scarcely 
more than babies themselves, with some crack- 
ers, while the little one in her arms moaned 
with every movement that she made. The car 
was dusty with the window open and hot with it 
closed, and as Louise went on her way with a 
pitying glance at the little party, her own com- 


STARTING OUT. 


39 


fortable chair seemed more luxurious than 
before as she nestled into its comfortable 
depths. 

Her mind was at rest, now that she had been 
able to find her aunt’s letter, and as she read it 
over carefully she was sure she would not have 
the least difficulty in making the necessary 
change. 

After she had finished reading it and had 
returned it to her bag, she read a few pages of 
her book and then found it more interesting to 
study her fellow-passengers and look out at the 
country through which they were passing, than 
to follow the thread of the story. Her thoughts 
returned involuntarily to the little group who 
had aroused her sympathy in the other car. 

I wish that poor mother had a comfortable 
chair like this, instead of being crowded in with 
those two children in one seat,” she thought. 
“If I was rich and if there was a vacant chair 
here, I would go and bring her into this car, 
where she would have a little comfort and give 
the baby a chance to rest better. Those are 
two quite impossible ‘ ifs ’ however, so I am 
afraid I can’t do anything about it but be sorry 
for her.” 

Her thoughts wandered off into another 
channel for a time, but after a while they 
reverted to the sick baby again. 


40 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ I suppose, if Christie were here,” she 
thought to herself, “ she would think that she 
ought to give up her nice comfortable chair to 
that poor mother and go out into the other car 
herself. It would be just like Christie to do a 
thing like that.” 

Then her thoughts went back to Christie, 
and she recalled various acts of kindness which 
had certainly required a great deal of self-denial 
and would have seemed utterly uncalled for to 
any one but Christie. 

“ I really believe she would enjoy a chance 
to give up a comfortable seat in a parlor-car, if 
she had this opportunity,” she reflected at last. 
“ I do n’t believe I could possibly do it. If I did 
I should have to sit with those two children, for 
of course they couldn’t come in here when 
there is n’t another seat, and I should probably 
have to talk to them and amuse them all the 
time till they got to where they were going. 
It would be horribly uncomfortable and I am 
not like Christie. I don’t enjoy doing things 
for other people ; I would a great deal rather be 
comfortable myself.” 

She took up her book and began to read, re- 
solving not to think any more about the sick 
baby and its mother. Somehow the pitiful little 
face came between her eyes and the printed 
page, while the words came into her mind, “ In- 


STARTING OUT. 4 1 

asmucli as ye have done it unto one of the least 
of these.” 

“ I declare, it is too provoking for anything !” 
she said to herself, with a frown of annoyance ; 
“ I am the most unfortunate girl in the world. 
Here I might have such a comfortable journey 
if it had not been for seeing that baby. It is 
none of my business, though I am very sorry 
for them. I do n’t want to give up my seat, and 
yet it makes me too uncomfortable to enjoy it to 
think of that group in that crowded, dusty car. 
Now that I have begun to think about it I can’t 
enjoy my seat if I stay in it, and I suppose I 
might as well be uncomfortable in the other 
car as to stay here and keep worrying about it 
all the time. Oh dear, I wish I was either so 
selfish that I did not care whether other people 
were comfortable or not, or else that I was un- 
selfish enough to find some pleasure in making 
them happy. I just have the discomforts and 
none of the pleasures of both states of mind.” 

In spite of her grumbling, when Louise once 
made up her mind to do a kind act she did it 
pleasantly and ungrudgingly ; and so when she 
had finally decided she would offer her seat to 
the mother with the sick baby, there was no 
trace of unwillingness or reluctance in her 
manner. She cast a wistful glance at her chair 
as she gathered up her belongings and left it, 


42 


SILVER BOWLS. 


for she felt as if she had left behind her all 
comfort until she or the children should reach 
their journey’s end. Telling the porter that 
she was going to send some one else in to 
occupy her seat, she carefully made her way 
into the next car. Rather shyly she explained 
her errand to the mother, who received it with 
so much gratitude that Louise had no doubt of 
her appreciation of it. “ Baby would feel better 
if she only had a chance to be quiet and have a 
little nap,” she explained. “ But the other chil- 
dren are so tired that they keep fretting all the 
time, and that keeps her roused up so she can’t 
get to sleep. Can I take the children with 
me?” 

Louise explained that there was only one 
seat, and that she would remain with the chil- 
dren and take care of them till the end of the 
journey. 

Oh, that is altogether too much to let you 
do !” exclaimed the mother in dismay. “ It is 
very, very kind in you, but I could n’t let you 
think of taking so much trouble for a stranger. 
If they were n’t so tired they would n’t be so 
fretty; but you would be all worn out with 
them.” 

“ Never mind if I am,” Louise answered with 
real earnestness. “ I can amuse them, perhaps, 
better than you can, with the baby to take care 


STARTING OUT. 


43 


of too ; and I have a little sister''at home, so I 
am used to children. If I can’t make them 
happy and contented I will come and tell you. 
Now do change seats with me ; it will do the 
baby so much good.” 

After a little more persuasion the mother 
consented, and as fortunately for the carrying 
out of Louise’s purpose the two children were 
not at all shy, she found that they were per- 
fectly willing to see their mother go away and 
leave them with a stranger. 

Of course it was not an easy task that she 
had set herself. Even to a child-lover it would 
scarcely have been a pleasure to take charge of 
two restless little ones for two or three hours ; 
and Louise did not profess to be fond of chil- 
dren. When she undertook to do anything, 
however, she did it well, and so the children 
were soon interested in hearing about Lottie’s 
sayings and doings. Louise found that they 
were very willing to share the contents of her 
lunch-basket, and she was glad to find that her 
mother had put up two or three times as much 
as she could eat herself. When they were each 
enjoying a sandwich, and had a piece of cake in 
the other hand, with which they were next to 
regale themselves, Louise went into the parlor 
car again to see how the mother was getting 
along and to report the comfort of the children. 


44 


SILVER BOWLS. 


She felt almost repaid for her self-denial, which 
had really been considerable, when she found 
that the baby had dropped into a refreshing 
slumber, and the mother herself looked more 
rested than she had when she left the crowded 
seat and restless children. 

Louise had brought with her a couple of the 
appetizing sandwiches which the children had 
enjoyed so much, and the little woman accepted 
them gratefully. She was glad to hear that the 
children were so happy, and seemed over- 
whelmed with gratitude to the young girl who 
had shown her such great and unexpected kind- 
ness. Louise found that she was to leave the 
train an hour after Louise herself should change 
cars, and so before she went back to the other 
car she looked for the porter and explained the 
situation to him. He was a kind-hearted man, 
and had a little one of his own at home ; and 
this made him very considerate of other chil- 
dren, especially sick ones. He was willing to do 
all that he could to make matters as easy as pos- 
sible for the mother, and so he said that by pay- 
ing a small additional sum she could retain the 
seat to the end of the journey. The next ques- 
tion was, “What is to be done with the chil- 
dren ?” 

“ I ’ll tell you what,” said the porter, after a 
little thought. “ There wont be many people 


STARTING OUT. 


45 


in the car then, and so nobody would say any- 
thing if I should bring them in here and give 
them two little stools by their mother’s chair. 
It will only be for a little while, and I guess it 
will be all right. I wish there was another seat 
in here that you could have yourself, for it ’s 
no ways pleasant travelling in those other cars, 
especially if you are used to a parlor car.” 

Louise smiled to herself, as she went back to 
the children, at the thought that she was very 
far from being used to travelling in a parlor 
car ; and she wondered what the man would say 
if he knew that this was her first real journey 
of any length, and that it was only through her 
aunt’s kindness that she was not crowded by 
necessity into the other car. 

The hours dragged along very slowly to 
Louise, and several times she grew so heartily 
tired of the children that she was tempted to 
repent her bargain ; but even the longest hours 
must come to an end at length, and at last the 
train began to near the station where she was to 
make the change. She was very glad to take 
her two troublesome little charges into the par- 
lor car, where the porter, true to his promise, 
had two little flat footstools waiting for them, 
and produced from the depths of his pocket a 
couple of apples, which he gave them as his 
contribution towards the comfort of the party. 


46 


SILVER BOWLS. 


I shall never forget how good you have 
been to me, and when I was only a stranger to 
you too,” the mother said gratefully. I can’t 
even begin to tell you how much I appreciate 
it, and how much good it has done the baby. 
She has had such a good sleep in here, and I 
know she will feel ever so much better when 
she wakes up.” 

Do n’t try to thank me,” Louise said. It 
has really been a pleasure to me to have made 
the journey any easier for you. I know it must 
be hard enough at best with a sick child.” 

Just then Louise forgot how tired she had 
been many times during the journey, and as she 
looked at the mother’s face there was only room 
for gladness in her heart that she had been able 
to lighten the burden of care. She bent and 
touched her lips lightly to the sleeping baby’s 
face as the train drew into the station. 

“Good-by,” she said, and in a few minutes 
more her new acquaintances were out of sight 
and she was on her way over to the station 
where she was to take the next train. 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 


47 


CHAPTER IV. 

MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 

The directions in her aunt’s letter were 
very explicit, and Louise had no difficulty in 
finding the station where she was to take the 
train which would carry her to her journey’s 
end. It was quite a rest to be out in the streets 
for a little while, and have a half-hour of change 
from travel. Although she had no seat in the 
parlor car for this part of her trip, she did not 
find it at all uncomfortable, for the car was not 
crowded, and was almost as comfortable as her 
place on the other train had been. 

She was heartily glad when at last she 
reached the end of her long day’s ride, and 
brushing the dust from her dress and hat and 
gathering up her possessions, she was ready to 
step out as soon as the train stopped. She had 
expected some member of the family to meet 
her, and in this she was not disappointed, for her 
foot had scarcely touched the ground before she 
was clasped in her aunt’s arms. 

She had not seen her aunt since she was 
fifteen years old, and though there had been a 
regular correspondence between her mother and 
this far-away sister, so that the interest had 


48 


SILVER BOWLS. 


been sustained upon both sides, yet her aunt 
had scarcely realized how her niece must have 
grown since she had last seen her. The cordial 
greeting from her uncle and Dora, both of whom 
had come down to meet her, quite banished 
any little feeling of shyness that Louise might 
have begun to harbor, and the carriage was soon 
rolling rapidly along through the crowded city 
streets, while a rather disconnected conversation 
was being carried on as well as the noise would 
permit. 

Louise had not seen her cousin Dora since 
the two were little girls, and she had wondered 
not a little what she would be like and whether 
she would love her. It would make a great 
deal of difference in her happiness during this 
winter whether she found her cousin congenial 
or not. To be sure she wrote delightful letters, 
but one could not always judge by that, Louise 
reflected. After a few shy glances at the bright 
girlish face opposite her, Louise made up her 
mind that she should certainly like her cousin 
very much indeed. There was something very 
prepossessing about her face, which, if not ex- 
actly pretty, had all the charm of a sunny nature 
which illuminated very feature. 

“ I am sure we shall have very good times 
together,” she thought to herself, “ and I know 
that I shall love Aunt Belle dearly, she is so 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 49 

sweet. I like uncle, too, only he looks as if he 
might be very sober sometimes." 

“ I suspect that you are both tired and hun- 
gry, are you not?" asked Aunt Belle, as the 
carriage drew up before a pretty house in a 
quiet street. “ I am sure that you must be after 
your long journey. Dora will take you up to 
your room at once, and you can refresh your- 
self a little, and then we will have tea." 

The twilight was just gathering as Louise 
followed her aunt up the steps, and for an in- 
stant, notwithstanding her cordial greeting and 
pleasant anticipations, she had an overwhelm- 
ing desire to see her mother and be back in 
the shelter of the dear home-nest, which was 
home after all, whatever it might lack in ele- 
gance. 

Perhaps her aunt Belle guessed her feel- 
ings ; for as Louise followed her into the wide 
hall, she turned and took her niece in her arms. 

You are very welcome, dear," she said with a 
warm caress, “ both for your dear mother’s sake 
and your own. You must be very happy here 
with us, and let me take your mother’s place in 
every way that I can while you are here." 

“ I know I shall be very happy," Louise re- 
turned, looking into the clear brown eyes that 
were so much like her mother’s, and the home- 
sick feeling vanished at once. 

4 


silver Bovrls 


50 


SILVER BOWLS. 


‘‘ I wanted to have you room with me so 
much,” said Dora, leading the way up stairs, 
carrying her cousin’s bag and umbrella. “ But 
mother said she thought it would be pleasanter 
for you to have a room to yourself, and so we 
compromised in this way : this is my room,” and 
she led the way into a pretty chamber furnished 
in blue, with dainty appointments everywhere 
that spoke of the love of the parents for their 
only child. “Isn’t it a pretty room? I am 
just as proud of it as I can be, and I am al- 
ways glad when other people think that it is 
pretty too.” 

“ It is perfectly lovely,” Louise returned 
enthusiasticMly. “ I think it is the prettiest 
room I ever saw. A friend of mine at home 
used to have a room furnished in blue that I 
thought was as pretty as a room could be, but 
this is even prettier than that.” 

“As mamma did not want us to have the 
same room, I told her I would be satisfied if I 
could have you close by me, so she fixed this 
room for you just next to mine. Now you see 
we can open the door and be as sociable as we 
please, and when you get tired or want to shut 
me out, it will be very easy just to fasten the 
door and you can be as quiet as you wish.” 

“ I shall never want to shut you out, I am 
sure,” Louise answered heartily. “Oh is this 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 


51 


really to be my room !” she exclaimed, in de- 
light. “ How lovely it is ! I am not quite sure 
that it is not prettier than even yours.” 

I am so glad you like it,” Dora answered. 
“ I have enjoyed helping mamma fix it up, with 
all my heart. I never had a sister, you know, 
and when mamma told me that you were really 
coming here for the winter I was so happy that 
I did not know what to do with myself. I am 
sure we shall be so happy studying and having 
good times together.” 

“ I know you cannot begin to be as happy as 
I am over the prospect,” said Louise, charmed 
with so loving a welcome. “ I should have been 
delighted to have shared your room*, but I must 
tell you that to have a room to myself has al- 
ways seemed the most delightful thing in the 
world, and I have never had it before. Nellie 
used to share my room until the last two years, 
and then Dottie was so restless at night that I 
took her to sleep with me for a little while to 
give mother a rest, and there she has stayed 
ever since.” 

It must be lovely to have her cuddle up to 
you at night,” said Dora rather wistfully. 

“ Yes, sometimes it is lovely,” admitted Louise, 
“ but sometimes when she goes to sleep on the 
top of the pillow, and comes down with a thump 
on my head just when I fall asleep, or when 


52 


SILVER BOWLS. 


she climbs all over me, then I think I could dis- 
pense with her company with a great deal of 
comfort.” 

“ I have never seen Dottie, you know,” said 
Dora. “You must tell me all about the cun- 
ning things she says and does. Now we will go 
down stairs as soon as you wash your face and 
hands. Was it a very dusty trip ?” 

“ Part of the way it was rather dusty,” 
Louise answered, resolving not to tell of her 
little self-denial on the train, lest the recital 
should sound too much like boasting of her 
own goodness. “ And I wasn’t good, after all,” 
she sorrowfully thought, “ for I got so tired of 
those children that I half wished for the days 
of Herod and should have been glad to get rid 
of them in someway. It wasn’t goodness. It 
was only because I could n’t make up my mind 
comfortably not do it.” 

Louise had all of a girl’s love for pretty 
things, and as she followed’ Dora down stairs 
after a hasty toilet, she feasted her eyes upon 
the tasteful appointments of her new home, as 
she already felt it to be. It was impossible to 
feel shy or strange with such a welcome, and 
when such loving preparation had been made 
for her coming. 

Louise was very hungry, for she had been so 
generous with her lunch that she had not eaten 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 53 

very mucli herself, and she did ample justice to 
the appetizing supper. The broiled chicken and 
waffles were very tempting, and it was a pleas- 
ure to her aunt to see how she enjoyed every- 
thing. 

There were many questions to ask about 
those at home, and Louise was soon chatting 
away as if she had known these new relatives all 
her life, instead of simply knowing them by 
their letters, which, however full and complete 
they may be, are not like a flesh-and-blood ac- 
quaintance. 

After supper they adjourned to the cosey 
sitting-room, and Louise rested herself in a 
comfortable easy-chair, while Dora told her all 
about the music lessons and how delightful they 
would be under such a good master. Louise 
was just beginning to realize that she had been 
too excited to sleep much the night before, 
when her aunt, noticing her tired looks, told 
Dora that they had both better go to bed, and 
get well rested so that Louise might feel able 
to go about and do a little sight-seeing before 
the lessons began in earnest. 

The new member of the household was most 
kindly remembered in the family worship before 
they retired, and Louise felt that it was a good 
thing to rest under a roof sheltered by Almighty 
love. 


54 


SILVER BOWLS. 


There were very tender thoughts of the dear 
ones she had left that mingled with her dreams 
that night, but there was not the homesickness 
that might have been expected on her first 
night of separation from them. 

The next morning she wrote a long letter to 
her mother, telling of her safe journey and her 
pleasant welcome ; and after she had unpacked 
her trunk and arranged her belongings, her 
cousin took her out to show her some of the 
sights of the city. The next two or three days 
passed very quickly and pleasantly, there was so 
much to see and to do, and even the first Sunday 
that she spent in her new home Louise found no 
lack of occupation as long as she followed her 
cousin’s lead. 

Sunday was very far from being a day of 
idleness in this household. To begin with, the 
family rose a little earlier than upon other days, 
that there might be ample time to discharge all 
the necessary duties of the household without a 
hurried feeling which would unfit them for the 
services of the day. In order that every one in 
the house might attend church, Dora and her 
mother helped about the morning tasks that 
were usually left entirely to the girls to perform, 
and by the time that these were finished it was 
time to prepare for church. After the morning 
service the Sunday-school was held, and Louise 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 


55 


was glad to find herself enrolled as a member of 
the Bible-class, which was under the charge of an 
unusually gifted teacher. 

Dinner was ready by the time the family re- 
turned from Sunday-school, where each one had 
some part, for Mr. Meade, Louise’s uncle, was 
the assistant superintendent of the school, and 
Mrs. Meade had charge of the infant-class. 

After dinner an hour was devoted to quiet 
reading and thought, and then it was time to at- 
tend the mission Sunday-school, in which Mr. 
and Mrs. Meade and Dora each had classes and 
were energetic workers. Louise was glad that 
there was some place for her also in this work, 
for the superintendent was looking for some one 
to take the class of a young lady who had been 
obliged to give it up for the winter. 

By the time home was reached again, and 
there had been a little time for reading or quiet 
talk, it was the hour for the evening meal, and 
as they rose from the table the bells were already 
calling them to the Young People’s meeting. 
Dora usually went alone to this meeting, and her 
father and mother met her later at the church 
service, but this evening she was delighted to 
have Louise for a companion. 

‘‘ You do n’t have much time for rest on Sun- 
day, do you?” said Louise, when they all gath- 
ered in the sitting-room after evening service. 


56 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“Did you ever hear Goethe’s definition of 
rest ?” asked Dora. 

“ I do n’t think so,” Louise answered. “ If I 
have, I do not recall it.” 

“ This is it,” Dora said, and she repeated, 

“ ‘ Rest is not quitting the busy career, 

Rest is the fitting of self to one’s sphere : 

’T is loving and serving the highest and best, 

’T is onward unswerving, and this is true rest.’ ” 

“ In that sense Sunday would indeed be a day 
of rest,” said Louise, “ for it is a day on which 
you give yourselves up entirely to ‘ serving the 
highest and best.’ ” 

“ There is so much to do on Sunday that if 
one is not watchful there is a temptation to give 
up all of one’s time, without reserving enough 
to make the day one of spiritual profit and 
growth by reading and thought,” said her aunt. 
“ When I was a young girl, an old farmer who 
frequently took part in our prayer-meetings used 
a certain phrase which I have never forgotten. 
He said he had found that in his spiritual life 
there was great danger of ‘ running his soul 
lean.’ He went on to explain that when sheep 
were continually going from one pasture to an- 
other they never had time to gain any flesh, but 
lost it by running about all the time, whereas if 
they browsed in the same place they had a 
chance to grow fat. He drew from this the les- 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 


57 


son that if he spent all his time in active Chris- 
tian work, his soul suffered for lack of nourish- 
ment ; while if he took time to read and medi- 
tate upon what he read, and reserved time for 
prayer, he grew in grace. Whenever I have 
been tempted to fill up my time so completely 
that I have no room left for reading or thought, 
I have remembered the homely simile and tried 
to beware of ‘ running my soul lean.’ ” 

“ We used to have the meetings of our circle 
of King’s Daughters on Sunday,” said Dora; 
“but most of us are teaching in the mission- 
school, and we found that it left us no time at all 
for ourselves, so now we hold them upon a week- 
day, and we enjoy them ever so much more. 
This is the badge of our circle. Do n’t you think 
it is pretty ?” 

She slipped from her watch-chain as she 
spoke a little silver charm, fashioned in the 
shape of a tiny bowl. 

“ It is very pretty,” Louise said as she exam- 
ined it, “ but I do n’t see the peculiar signifi- 
cance of the shape. I thought the cross was 
always the badge of the King’s Daughters.” 

“ Oh we wear that too, but this is just a little 
private reminder for our own circle. When I 
tell you that the name of our circle is ‘Silver 
Bowls,’ then you will understand our badge 
better.” 


58 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“Is that it?” Louise asked. “ But what an 
odd name! What did you choose it for? Of 
course it must have some specific meaning, but I 
don’t see what it can be.” 

“ The Sunday we organized, it happened that 
the lesson was about the Temple and the various 
things that were used for service there, and our 
teacher impressed upon us the fact that not only 
the most precious stones and metals were used, 
but even the plainer vessels had a work to do 
there, and though it was a more humble service, 
it was none the less a necessary and acceptable 
one. We were not organizing with the idea of 
accomplishing any great work : it was only that 
we might watch for the little things that we 
were apt to grow careless about and leave un- 
done because they seemed so little ; and after the 
lesson we decided to call ourselves ‘ Silver Bowls.’ 
We had not any of us great talents nor much 
money to use. We could not be golden bowls, 
but we would try to do the tasks that were given 
to us, and be content to do the work of the plain- 
er vessels, resting satisfied with doing that as 
well as we could ‘ In His Name.’ Then we 
thought that this little badge would help us re- 
member not to aspire to ambitious service, but 
to be happy in doing the little things that might 
come to us.” 

“ Little things seem to amount to so much 


MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. 


59 


sometimes,” Louise answered, as she thought of 
the mission-school in Factory ville that had grown 
from such small beginnings, and of the happy 
family in Miss Abigail’s little cottage by the 
river’s side. I wish I could join your circle 
while I am here.” 

“ The girls would be delighted to have 
you, I know,” Dora answered heartily. “ I was 
going to suggest it myself, if you had not. I 
think it gives one such a homelike feeling to 
belong to a circle and feel that one has a 
share in the work and interest. You shall 
become a ‘ Silver Bowl ’ at our very next meet- 
ing, and you will be surprised to find out how 
quickly you will be set to work.” 

I cannot do very many things, for you will 
soon discover that I am not at all efficient,” con- 
fessed Louise. “ I like to do what I can though, 
and I like the name of your circle particularly, 
because it does n’t imply that one needs any very 
great talent. It is just willingness to do what is 
planned for one, and that is all I have. I can 
only do the work of a silver bowl, but it is a 
comfort to think that the golden bowls have their 
own part to do, and if we silver bowls did not do 
our part it would be left undone. No one else 
could do it for us.” 


6o 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER V. 

NEW IDEAS. 

It was not many days before Louise felt per- 
fectly at home with her relatives, and she thor- 
oughly enjoyed her new life. Although Mr. 
Meade was not a wealthy man, he had sufficient 
means to enable him to live very comfortably, 
and the close economy to which Louise had been 
accustomed all her life was not necessary in this 
household. The few light duties which fell to 
the share of the two cousins to perform each day 
seemed mere child’s play to Louise, who had 
been in the habit of assisting her mother in all 
but the very heaviest of the household duties ; 
and when the lessons and practising began it 
was such a delightful task that it could not be 
looked upon as a labor. Her aunt insisted upon 
supplying her with the same amount of pocket- 
money with which Dora was supplied, and made 
some little additions to the wardrobe which had 
seemed so complete until it suffered by compari- 
son with that of her cousin, and no one could 
have told from external appearance which was 
the daughter of the house. 

Her bright ways and ready wit made her a 
favorite at once with her cousin’s friends, and 


NEW IDEAS. 


6i 


she soon lost all feeling of shyness and restraint. 
If it had not been that in the midst of all her 
comfort she longed for a sight of the dear home 
faces, she would have been more perfectly happy 
than it often falls to the lot of mortals to be. 
The two girls were very congenial, and Dora de- 
clared that now she had found out how delight- 
ful it was to have a sister, she would never con- 
sent to let Louise return home again. 

Six hours of each day were given up to 
hard study, but the rest of the time the girls 
were free to do as they wished. The time never 
hung heavily upon their hands, for there were 
many delightful engagements always waiting for 
them, and they enjoyed reading and working to- 
gether. 

Perhaps if we glance over Louise’s shoulder 
as she writes a letter to Ella Lindsay, we can 
learn better than in any other way how delight- 
ful her new life appeared to her. 

“ My dearest Ella,” she wrote, “ I wish I 
could talk to you instead of writing, for I 
feel as if I didn’t know where to begin. I 
have so much to tell you, and even if I do 
manage to plunge in and make a beginning, 
why, pages and pages wont be enough to tell 
you all that I want to. I feel as if I was living 
in a story book. Really that describes my state 
of mind better than any other way in which I 


62 


SILVER BOWLS. 


could express myself. Everything is so charm- 
ing and delightful, aunt and uncle and Dora 
are so lovely, and my new home and all my 
surroundings are so ideally pleasant, that I feel 
as if it must all exist between the covers of a 
book instead of in real life. Imagine me now, 
if you can — and perhaps your power of imagina- 
tion will be sufficiently strong, if my powers of 
description are not very adequate — curled up in 
a corner of a broad couch, with the biggest and 
downiest of cushions sungly nestled at my back 
and my writing-pad in my lap. I have not had 
any unpleasant associations with the dish-pan 
to spoil my morning, and breakfast is a more 
ethereal pleasure than if I had wrestled with it 
over the kitchen stove before I could eat it. I 
feel a veritable lily of the field as far as toiling 
is concerned, for keeping our own rooms in 
order and doing the dusting is all the work that 
falls to our share. My room is like a little bit 
of fairy-land, though I suppose there is n’t any- 
thing really very extravagant or elegant about 
it. Aunt and Dora both are artistic, and are so 
fond of having everything about them beautiful 
that they charm everything they touch and 
make it seem graceful and dainty. You see I 
am in love with them in my usual headlong 
fashion. I have come to the conclusion since I 
have been here that there is a great deal of un- 


NEW IDEAS. 


63 

necessary ugliness in the world, and that a little 
knack and work and taste will work wonders. 
For instance, my room will illustrate what I 
mean. It is just daintiness itself ; and yet, if 
all of Dora’s and aunt’s handiwork were taken 
out, the charm would be gone. Dora paints 
very well, every one says, though her work is 
wonderful to me. My room is a pink room, and 
Dora has painted the panels of the door be- 
tween her room and mine a creamy white. On 
her side of the door there are long trailing 
sprays of morning-glory vines, with blue and 
white blossoms. Did I tell you her room is blue ? 
On my side of the door she has painted wild 
roses, and you can’t imagine what a beautiful 
effect the few carelessly scattered branches 
have. It makes the door one of the prettiest 
things in the room. Then the bed ! It is only 
an iron one, but it is so apotheosized by white 
enamel paint that you would never recognize it 
as belonging to its species. There is always 
something hopelessly cheerless about an iron 
bedstead, but when it is white and touched up 
with gold, and has a Bolton sheeting spread with 
wild roses running over it, why it is a thing of 
beauty. It is just so with everything in the 
room. The dressing-table is a lovely structure 
of white Swiss and pink silicia, the bureau ap- 
pointments all show that auntie*s skilful fin- 


64 


SILVER BOWLS. 


gers have been at work for me, and if I could 
choose between having the room just as it is, or 
having it furnished with the most elegant and 
expensive furniture which had not a bit of 
handiwork about it, I should prefer it just as it 
is, with Dora and auntie associated with it all. 
Of course it is only pleasure to keep such a lovely 
room in order, and the dusting is not hard work, 
as you can guess. It is such a rest not to have 
to think all through meal-time that I shall have 
to help Kitty with the dishes, and not to wear 
white skirts with the uncomfortable conscious- 
ness that I shall have to iron them myself. Oh 
yes, I know I am lazy, but I never was humored 
in my laziness before, and so I appreciate it 
immensely. 

“ As to the music lessons, there is a good deal 
of real hard work connected with them, but then 
it is inspiring work, and I feel that I shall have 
something to show for it after a while. The 
discouraging part about housework is that no 
matter how much you do one day, you are not 
one bit ahead on the next day’s doings. You 
can’t make to - morrow’s beds, nor cook to- 
morrow’s meals, nor, worst of all, clear up after 
them, and so it ’s a sort of treadmill that I do n’t 
believe I will ever learn to enjoy. I should 
feel that I had no business to come away and 
leave it all on dear patient mother’s shoulders, if 


NEW IDEAS. 


65 


it were not that I am really learning to be of 
more use than I could be at home. Nellie is 
a willing little helper, too, so my conscience is 
comfortable, as it rarely is over good times. 
Most always my good times are something I 
have no right to, but only get through selfish- 
ness of some kind or another. Dora is lovely. 
I do n’t see how she could be anything else with 
such a mother, and one, too, who has time to be 
interested in all her doings. As to Aunt Belle, 
well, words fail me altogether. She is good 
without being pretentious, and you know how 
few people manage that ; and she is an inspira- 
tion to every one who comes in contact with her 
to make the best of themselves. I am glad to 
say that she has taken me in as if I were another 
daughter, and she lets me share in all her little 
talks to Dora. Uncle Meade is just as nice as 
he can be, though I don’t see very much of 
him, as business keeps him away a great deal. 
That I do not know him better, is, I suppose, the 
reason I am not as enthusiastic over him as I 
am over the rest of the family. Now see how 
many pages I have filled, and yet I have hardly 
begun to tell you anything about my new home. 
I have n’t once mentioned the church and the 
services, which I enjoy very much ; and I 
have n’t told you what a pleasant set of girls I 
have become acquainted with. They are all 
5 


Silver Bowls 


66 


SILVER BOWLS. 


very nice to me, on Dora’s account, and I am 
already at work in the King’s Daughters’ circle. 
It makes one feel so much at home to have 
something to do, and there is plenty of work to 
keep every one busy in this great city. 

“That reminds me I haven’t said a word 
about all the sights I have seen, but I should 
have to write folios to tell you all, so perhaps 
it as well for you that I have n’t time to send 
you anything but this scribble. Dora has almost 
finished practising, and in ten minutes it will 
be my turn to go to the piano, so I must have 
this ready for the mail. Write to me as soon 
as you can spare time, and tell me all about 
everything, for I have n’t by any means lost my 
interest in my old home because I am so charmed 
with my new one. Give my love to the girls 
and keep a heartful for yourself from your lov- 
ing LOUISE.” 

The days passed away speedily and delight- 
fully. Lousie made good progress in her music 
and learned much in other ways. If her life 
was to run on in this pleasant channel, I could 
tell you much of those with whom she was 
thrown and the lessons she learned from them. 
In this large city church she saw what con- 
secrated wealth and talent could do and were 
doing. She found out that many a woman of 
high social standing, who had a place to fill in 


NEW IDEAS. 


society and filled it gracefully and well, was as 
loyal a King’s daughter and carried His mes- 
sages as faithfully as if she had been clad in the 
plain garb of a sisterhood. The contact with 
strangers instead of people among whom she 
had grown up was a stimulus in itself, and be- 
neath her gay exterior Louise began to develop 
more womanliness and thoughtfulness. She 
saw unsolved problems about her on every side, 
and began to realize that she must prepare her- 
self to meet the responsibilities of life. 

Mrs. Meade was a woman who realized most 
intensely her responsibilities in the different re- 
lations of life, and as Dora once laughingly said 
of her, “ Mamma feels that she has duties to- 
wards even her butcher and baker and candle- 
stick-maker,” and towards every one she met in 
daily intercourse she tried to show the courtesy 
and consideration which should mark a follower 
of Christ. As Louise watched her, and saw that 
to those whom she employed she never failed to 
exhibit the same patience and gentleness that 
made her so beloved by those who met her so- 
cially, she wondered why it was that her aunt 
differed from so many others in this particular. 
She asked her once, when she had noticed a spe- 
cial instance of consideration for the feelings of 
the waitress. 

“ Why should I not be courteous ?” asked 


68 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Aunt Belle, with a smile. “ It is not the clothes 
of those whom I meet that I treat well, nor their 
wealth nor attainments. It is the womanhood 
that I respect, and why should I not treat a 
woman clothed in calico as courteously as I 
would treat a woman in silk ? Does the fact of 
my employing any one to work for me degrade 
her so that she is not as worthy of respect as if I 
were in her place and she in mine ? Is not my 
cook a daughter of the King as much as the 
friend who meets me in society ? Ought I not to 
show to one the same consideration that I extend 
to the other ? Perhaps there may be more temp- 
tations to impatience with one than with the 
other, but that only calls for greater watchful- 
ness on my part to guard against hasty speech. 
I have always felt as if I should lose my self- 
respect if I did not treat any one who could not 
deinand courtesy from me at least as well as one 
who had a right to expect it. It may not make 
any particular difference in the happiness of a 
caller if I am not very pleasant and agreeable to 
her, but it does make a great deal of difference 
to any one in my employ, so I ought to be more 
careful of the feelings of the latter than the 
former. Do n’t you think so ?” 

“ Yes,” Louise responded. “ But every one 
doesn’t seem to think so.” 

Each one must decide for herself what is 


NEW IDEAS. 


69 


the measure of her responsibility,” said her aunt. 
“ It makes me feel as if I could hardly guard my 
speech and actions carefully enough, when I 
remember that some soul may be driven away 
from Christ by the unchristliness of one of his 
followers.” 

Louise could hardly have been in an atmo- 
sphere better fitted for the development of an 
earnest practical religious life, nor could she 
have had a greater help than her aunt’s example. 
It made her desire to be a lovable Christian, and 
she determined to try to fit herself for the re- 
sponsibilities that would come to her later in life 
by making the best of herself now and cultiva- 
ting thoughtfulness and consideration for all with 
whom she came in contact. 


70 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

AN UNEXPECTED SUMMONS. 

Louise and Dora were dressing to go to a 
concert. It was a pleasure to which they had 
been looking forward for some time, as it was to 
be the first appearance in that city of a cele- 
brated pianist, and both the girls were delighted 
at the prospect of hearing his performance. 

I shall always remember this day,” Louise 
said gayly, as she fiufied her hair into a golden 
brown mist across her forehead and fastened a 
pin more securely into the heavy coil at the back 
of her head. “ I have fairly been dreaming about 
this concert, and now that the day has really 
come I wish I had ten times my capacity for en- 
joyment. There, now I am all ready, Dora, and 
I will put my gloves on leisurely while I am 
waiting for you.” 

She seated herself by the window and began 
to draw on the new gloves she was to wear, while 
Dora proceeded with her toilet. 

“There comes a telegraph-boy down the 
street,” said Louise presently, as she glanced up 
and saw the blue-coated messenger. “ I should n’t 
like to be a telegraph-boy.” 

“ What is your particular reason ?” asked Dora. 


AN UNEXPECTED SUMMONS. 7 1 

If I was a boy, I think I should like it as well 
as anything.’' 

“ Oh they are always carrying some dreadful 
news to some one,” said Louise. “ I should think 
it would make them feel bad every time they 
started out with a telegram.” 

*‘Why, you goosie,” said Dora laughingly, 
“ do n’t you suppose that any but bad news are 
sent over the telegraph wires ? Papa gets five 
or six telegrams in a day sometimes, and when 
he is away from home he very often telegraphs 
to mamma, so we never think of such a thing as 
being frightened.” 

“ I suppose it ’s one of my country notions,” 
Louise answered. “ I somehow always associate 
telegrams with bad news, and I should not like 
to get one.” 

The boy glanced up at the numbers on the 
houses, as he came nearer, and crossed the street 
when he was opposite Mrs. Meade’s house. Louise 
afterwards remembered how she watched him 
coming, all unconscious that he bore tidings of 
sadness that would make such a difference in 
her life and happiness. 

The bright afternoon sunshine streamed 
through the parted lace curtains and fell upon 
her as she sat there by the window, so happy 
that she wanted to have her capacity for enjoy- 
ment increased. Afterwards she remembered 


72 


SILVER BOWLS. 


those few minutes, and it seemed to her as if the 
shadow which fell upon the steps as the tele- 
graph-boy ascended them fell also across all the 
sunshine of her life. 

“ Why do n’t you hurry a little ?” she asked, 
as Dora took her time over the finishing touches 
of her toilet. “I am so impatient that I can 
hardly wait till we get started. After we are 
really on our way, the time will not seem so 
long. That telegraph-boy is coming here, I see. 
I wonder whom the telegram is for.” 

“ I suppose papa has telegraphed that he will 
not come home as early as usual,” Dora replied, 
as she put her hat on and took up her gloves. 

Now, Miss Impatience, as soon as my gloves 
are on, I will be ready to start. I know we shall 
have to wait till the doors are opened, but if you 
prefer that to waiting at home you shall have 
your sweet will.” 

“We can go slowly after we get started,” 
Louise answered. “It is ridiculous, I know, to 
be so impatient, but I can’t help it. I hate to 
wait when I am expecting such a good time.” 

“ Dora !” called Mrs. Meade from the hall be- 
low. “ Come here a moment.” 

“ Perhaps you ’ll have to be patient a little 
longer,” said Dora laughingly, as she obeyed 
her mother’s summons. “ Mamma may want 
me to do something for her before we start.” 


AN UNEXPECTED SUMMONS. 


73 


It was only a few moments before Louise 
heard Dora ascending the stairs again, but she 
came up more slowly than was her wont, and 
when she came into the room Louise saw that 
all the brightness had gone out of her face, and 
she looked as if she had been startled by some 
unexpected news. 

She crossed the room, and putting her arms 
about Louise kissed her tenderly. 

“ Mamma wants you to come down to her, 
dear,” she said, and, too frightened to ask a sin- 
gle question, Louise obeyed. She had an instinct- 
ive sense that something had happened which 
concerned her, and though she wanted to know 
what it was, she shrank from knowing and went 
down stairs with slow feet to the parlor. 

What could it be? Something must have 
happened to one of the dear home circle, and 
which one was it ? Her heart was full of terri- 
fied apprehension, and she did not know whether 
the knowledge of what had happened or the un- 
certainty would be worse. 

She heard Dora moving about with swift feet, 
and opening and shutting bureau drawers, and 
wondered dully what she was doing. It seemed 
as if she would never reach the end of the long 
flight of stairs, and yet she would not hurry. 
She was too much in dread of what might be 
awaiting her. 


74 


SILVER BOWLS. 


My poor child/' said her aunt, with the 
same look of pity that Dora had worn, and her 
face was pale and anxious as she took Louise in 
her arms. 

Is it mother?” gasped Louise faintly as she 
felt a certain sense of relief in her aunt’s caress. 
'‘Oh, auntie, what is it?” 

“You must be brave, darling, and be your 
dear mother’s comfort now. We will go on at 
once. I have sent for a carriage to take us to 
the station, and we will be just in time for the 
next train. Your father has been very ill,” she 
went on, trying to soften a little the abruptness 
of the news in the telegram. 

Louise knew it all then. Perhaps it was her 
aunt’s manner, perhaps some instinct told her 
the whole of the truth. 

“ Father is not dead ! Oh he cannot be 
dead !” she wailed, clinging to her aunt. “ I 
must see him again. He cannot be gone away 
from me without saying good-by. Oh, auntie, 
tell me that it is not true. It cannot be. 
There is some mistake about it. It cannot be 
true ” 

“ I wish I could tell you that it is not true,” 
said her aunt tenderly. “ You must try to be 
brave, darling, for your mother will need you so 
much now. Dora is putting into a bag the few 
things you will need to take with you, and I will 


AN UNEXPECTED SUMMONS. 75 

go and change my dress so that I may be ready 
the moment the carriage comes. We have not a 
moment to lose. I am glad that you and Dora 
had not started for the concert, for then we 
should have had to wait five hours for the next 
train.” 

Was it the same world that it had been ten 
minutes ago? Louise wondered dully. Every- 
thing had been so bright then, and now there 
was a great darkness. She was so stunned that 
she could hardly feel, and she was shocked that 
not a tear came to her eyes. She did not under- 
stand, poor child, that it was the very intensity 
of her feeling, instead of a lack of it, that made 
her eyes so dry and kept her so calm after the 
first outburst. She had never felt more perfect- 
ly collected and calm in all her life than she did 
just then. She went up stairs to help Dora with 
her preparations for the journey, and remem- 
bered some things that Dora in her excitement 
had forgotten. 

“ If she would only cry or say something,” 
Dora said to her mother, as she helped her make 
her toilet. “ It is dreadful to see her just as if 
she had been turned into stone.” 

“ The reaction will come soon enough,” Mrs. 
Meade answered. “It is so sudden that she 
cannot realize it yet.” 

“ The carriage is here, auntie,” said Louise 


SILVER BOWLS. 


76 

quietly, coming into the room just then. “ Are 
you ready ?” 

Dora threw her arms about her cousin and 
kissed her again and again. I am so sorry, 
Louise,’’ she said. “ I wish I could say some- 
thing to comfort you. Oh, I am so sorry.” 

“ Yes, I know you are, dear,” Louise answered 
in the same quiet voice. 

She followed her aunt down stairs and out 
into the carriage without another word, and 
as the carriage rattled along the streets she 
looked out of the window with eyes that wan- 
dered from one object to another, although she 
did not heed them. They were but just in time, 
and there was not a moment even to buy tickets. 
They had not seated themselves before the train 
steamed out of the station, and they were on their 
way to the home which must seem so desolate 
now that the head of the family was gone. 

The telegram had been a brief one with no 
particulars : 

“ Father has just passed away. Tell Louise. 

“ Nellie.” 

It could not have been a long illness, for only 
three days before Louise had received a long 
letter from her father in which he had not 
spoken of feeling unwell at all. 

Louise caught a glimpse of herself in the 
mirror at the end of the car, and though the 


AN UNEXPECTED SUMMONS. 


77 


dress was the same, and even the rosebud she 
had pinned on with such care was still in its 
place, yet the face was so different from the 
happy one her looking-glass had reflected half 
an hour ago that she hardly recognized herself. 
She was so completely stunned by the sudden 
blow that she could not grasp the meaning of 
this summons. She found herself wondering 
whether her father would meet them at the sta- 
tion with the carriage, for it would be night 
before their journey ended. She could not make 
herself understand that she was fatherless and 
that she must never expect to hear her father’s 
voice again. 

It was a long journey both to Louise and her 
aunt. Though the express train sped swiftly 
along with but very few stops, yet it seemed as 
if the hours would never pass. Mrs. Meade’s 
heart ached for the girl who sat opposite to her 
with such a white, set face. If she could only 
have broken down ever so little, it would have 
been a relief, but that tearless, unnatural calm 
was more pitiful than any outburst of anguish 
would have been. 

Louise was thinking about the father to 
whom she was going. She went back to her first 
remembrance of him, how he used to come into 
the room when she was a little child, and take 
her up in his strong arms, and nestle her against 


SILVER BOWLS. 


78 

his broad shoulder, always the same patient 
father who had interpreted the Fatherhood of 
God to his children as no preacher could have 
done. There had always existed a peculiar ten- 
derness between Louise and her father, perhaps 
because she was the eldest and he had made 
more of a companion of her than of the others. 

Louise remembered as if he had uttered them 
only yesterday every word of that last conversa- 
tion on the morning she left home. She had 
little dreamed that they would be the last words 
she would ever hear her father utter, or that the 
tender kiss he gave her in farewell would be the 
last touch of his lips in life. It had been one of 
those unconscious farewells of which life is full. 


FINIS. 


79 


CHAPTER VII. 

FINIS. 

At home the day had dawned as peacefully 
in the household as if the shadow of death were 
not about to fall across its brightness. When 
the family gathered for the morning meal, the 
father was as interested in all the plans for 
the day as usual, and if he was a little more 
quiet than his wont it was not noticed in the 
flow of merry talk. 

After the meal was concluded the family 
gathered together in the sitting-room for pray- 
ers, and little Dottie, standing between her 
father’s knees, read slowly, with here and there 
a trip over the hard words, the twenty-third 
Psalm. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for 
Thou art with me ; Thy rod and Thy staff they 
comfort me.” 

The childish voice was very sweet and rev- 
erent as the little one read the beautiful words, 
and when she concluded her face glowed with 
pride as she looked up at her father for ap- 
proval. 


8o 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ You did very well, little daughter,” he said, 
kissing the uplifted lips. It was the first time 
that Dottie had taken turn with the other chil- 
dren in reading aloud at prayers, and it was a 
great event to her. In the prayer that followed 
the absent one was as tenderly remembered as 
usual, and perhaps the father lingered some- 
what over his loving petitions for the welfare of 
his dearly loved daughter. 

It had grown into a never-omitted custom 
for the children to kiss their father and mother 
when they arose from their knees, so on this 
morning the father went away with his chil- 
dren’s kisses fresh upon his lips and the echo 
of their loving good-bys following him. 

It comforted them a little afterwards to re- 
member how they had clung lovingly about 
him, all unconscious that it was their last fare- 
well, and that God would write the word Finis 
at the end of that self-sacrificing life before 
they should look upon that dear face again. 

There was a long list of calls to be made that 
morning, and after the doctor had jotted them 
down in his memorandum book he opened the 
office door and going back into the sitting-room 
where his wife sat at work, leaned over and 
kissed her good-by. 

“ I may not be back at dinner-time. If I am 
not here do n’t wait for me. Good-by, dear.” 


FINIS. 


8l 


As he passed the window in his low buggy 
he leaned forward and waved his hand to Dot- 
tie, who stood watching for him, and then the 
horse jogged on his way down the road. 

It was half an hour later, perhaps — no one 
could tell definitely, though by noting the time 
when he had left the house where he had made 
his first call some idea could be obtained — when 
a boy who was coming down the road noticed 
that the reins hung loosely upon the horse’s 
back and that the doctor leaned back as if he 
were asleep. 

“ That ’s queer, for Dr. Rushton to go to sleep 
when he’s driving,” thought the boy, and he 
was going on his way, whistling, when an unex- 
plained impulse made him look back after the 
buggy. 

The horse was going very slowly, and pres- 
ently stopped and put down his nose to nibble 
at some little patches of grass that had kept 
their greenness beneath the winter’s snows and 
grew beside the road. “ That ’ll wake the doctor 
up for sure,” thought the boy, stopping to watch 
what would come next. He expected to see the 
horse started on with a reminder that it was not 
time to stop for a meal, but to his surprise the 
stopping of the buggy did not seem to disturb 
the driver. “ What ’s up, anyhow !” exclaimed 
the boy, and going back he called out, “Dr. 

Silver Bowla 6 


82 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Rushton, see what your horse is doing. You 
had — ” The words died away on his lips as 
he looked at the doctor. Boy though he was, he 
knew that something was seriously wrong when 
he saw the head fallen forward upon the breast 
and the nerveless hands. He jumped up beside 
the doctor, and taking up the reins turned the 
horse’s head towards home. “ I wish some one 
else had come along,” he thought, as he turned 
in at the gate and dreaded to see the alarm that 
his coming with the doctor in this condition 
would cause. 

“ Why, your father is coming back early after 
all. He must have forgotten something,” said 
Mrs. Rushton, glancing up as the buggy passed 
the window. Nellie dear,” she went on, “go 
to the door and see if there is anything that you 
can hand him and save him from getting out.” 

Nellie obeyed, but when she opened the door 
and her eyes fell upon her father, a cry escaped 
her lips and her mother knew that something 
was wrong. The flushed face and heavy breath- 
ing terrified both Nellie and her mother, al- 
though neither of them would put in words the 
fear that struck a chill to their hearts. 

A friend who was passing came to help them 
carry the unconscious form to the house, while 
the boy who had brought the doctor home was 
despatched in haste for another physician. 


FINIS. 


83 

Usually Dr. Lawton was , on his rounds at 
this hour, but on this particular morning he had 
been detained in his office, and had just started 
out when he met the messenger. He was at 
Dr. Rushton’s side in less than ten minutes 
from the time the doctor had been brought 
home ; but before anything could be done the 
last breath fluttered through the parted lips, and 
the tender husband, the loving father, and the 
kind physician was gone. 

It was a hard task to make the stricken wife 
and daughter believe that life had really fled, 
for the blow had been so sudden that it seemed 
to have deprived them of all their reasoning 
faculties, and they could not understand that 
the loved one who had been a part of their life 
but an hour before had passed from their cling- 
ing hands into the silence of death. 

When Mrs. Rushton grasped the truth she 
was completely prostrated, and Nellie, with a 
new sense of responsibility, tried to control her- 
self and think of the necessary things to be 
done. She sent messengers for Fred and Dot- 
tie, who had gone to school ; and lest some news 
should reach them before they came home, she 
asked Fred Atwater to go with the carriage for 
first one and then the other, and keep them 
from hearing of their loss until they had gained 
the shelter of their home and she had tried to 


84 


SILVER BOWLS. 


prepare them in what small measure she could 
for the sorrowful intelligence. After they had 
come home, she remembered Louise, and sent 
the telegram which was to summon her ; and 
then the rest of that sad day was filled so full of 
duties to which some one had to attend that 
she hardly had time to realize that in the dark- 
ened room just beyond the cheery living-room 
was the quiet form of the one who had always 
borne the brunt of all anxiety and care. 

Somehow it seemed as if he must surely 
come in very soon and tell her what a good 
daughter she had been to try to take care of her 
mother and shield her in this trouble ; and then 
his strong hands would lift the burden as they 
had done so often before, and that feeling of 
being crushed with sorrow would vanish away 
as other troubles had vanished when he carried 
them. 

It always seems such a mockery of sorrow 
that in its presence the insignificant trifles which 
make up the routine of life must go on, un- 
checked even by the majesty of death itself. 
Yet it is a merciful provision, for if we could 
give ourselves wholly up to the contemplation 
of our grief, it would magnify itself beyond the 
powers of endurance. Kitty was useless in this 
emergency, and cried so noisily that Nellie was 
glad when she went up to her room and ceased 


FINIS. 


85 


to add to the necessary confusion. If Louise 
were only at home to help her through these 
trying hours! There was no lack of kind 
friends who came with offers of help of every 
kind, but there is no one who can come into a 
household at such a time and do the part that a 
member of the family can. Nellie felt as if she 
was needed everywhere at once. Fred had 
thrown himself on the lounge in the room with, 
his father, and was trying to control his grief ; 
but Dottie clung to Nellie, and only half under- 
standing what had happened, was wholly 
frightened and tearful. Nellie found that she 
must call upon Fred for help at last. 

“ Fred dear,” she said gently, laying her hand 
on his shoulder, “ will 370U take care of Dottie ? 
Kitty has gone up stairs, and the poor child is 
so frightened that one of us will have to try to 
comfort her as well as we can. I have so much 
else to do that I can’t give her much attention. 
Please help me, dear.” 

“ Oh I can’t,” groaned PTed, burying his 
head deeper in the sofa cushion ; but the next 
moment he dashed his hand across his face to 
wipe away the tears that he could not keep 
back and said, 

“Yes, I’ll come, Nellie. It’s a shame to 
leave everything to you now. Poor little Dottie, 
where is she ?” 


86 


SILVER BOWLS. 


There was a little comfort in the sense that 
the father would be pleased if he could know 
that he was trying to be good to his little sister. 
Now he would have to try to take his father’s 
place to her as best he could, and be his mo- 
ther’s helper too. He led sobbing little Dottie 
up stairs where she would not hear the ques- 
tions that were asked by callers, and drew her 
upon his knee with a new tenderness. He tried 
to comfort her, poor boy, with his own eyes 
full of hot tears, by telling her that dear papa 
had gone ’to heaven and they must all try to be 
very good so that they would see him again by- 
and-by. 

The tears dropped on Dottie’s curls as he 
remembered the glad light that had shone in 
his father’s eyes six months ago, when Fred had 
waited out on the porch in the moonlight for 
his father to come home, and had told him in 
hesitating words, with a boyish reluctance to 
speak of that which was deepest in his heart, 
that he wanted to unite with the church and 
profess the Saviour whom he had followed in se- 
cret for a year. 

“ But he was here this morning,” sobbed 
Dottie. “ I did n’t know any one could go to 
heaven without being sick a longtime.” 

F red comforted him^self as well as Dottie 
as he told her how glad they ought to be that 


FINIS. 


87 


papa had not suffered, that God had taken him 
without any pain to the beautiful home above. 
Perhaps to no one else in the world but Dottie 
could Fred have said these things, but they 
soothed his own heart as he put them into 
words. By-and-by Dottie fell asleep with her 
head resting against her brother’s shoulder, and 
when Nellie came up to call Fred down to din- 
ner her eyes filled afresh at the sight. It was 
growing stronger now, that sense that they 
must depend upon each other for mutual help 
instead of upon their father. 

“ How is mother ?” asked Fred softly. 

She is asleep,” Nellie answered. “ The doctor 
left her a quieting draught when he went away. 
Fred, will you hold Dottie till she wakes up, 
or will you come and have something to eat 
now ?” 

I do n’t want anything to eat,” he answered. 
“ I cannot bear to go to the table and see father’s 
chair empty, when he was there with us only this 
morning. I will stay with Dottie.” 

“Then I will bring you something,” said 
Nellie, understanding his feeling only too well. 
When she had passed the table a few minutes 
ago a glance at the napkin which those dear 
hands had folded and left in its place had wrung 
her heart. How would they ever learn to do 
without their father, when the least trifles in the 


88 


SILVER BOWLS. 


house were so full of associations with him that 
they had the power to stab like knives ! It was 
a relief to her that it was not necessary to make 
a pretence of eating the noon meal. She put 
something on a plate for Fred, and placed Dottie’s 
dinner where it would keep warm till the child 
woke up, and then she cleared the table, moving 
about softly as if she had an instinctive feeling 
that she might disturb the dead as well as the 
living by any sound. 

She carried the plate up to Fred and put it 
beside him where he could help himself without 
disturbing Dottie, and then she went down stairs 
again, glancing in at her mother to see if there 
was anything to do for her on her way to answer 
a ring at the door-bell. 

The doctor was so beloved by his patients that 
there were many who felt almost as strong a 
sense of personal loss as if he had been a mem- 
ber of their family, and all day long people came 
to the door to express their sympathy and to 
offer to do anything that might be in their power. 
It was a comfort to know how the dear father 
whom they had all loved so dearly had been be- 
loved and appreciated by those to whom he had 
ministered so skilfully. 

By-and-by Dottie woke up and came down 
stairs, and Nellie gave her the dinner she had 
saved for her, and tried to eat a little herself, 


FINIS. 


89 


that she might keep up her strength to take care 
of her mother. The day wore away very slowly, 
and when at last the short winter twilight began 
to gather and the hands of the clock pointed to 
half-past four, Nellie felt as if years had passed 
since the morning when she had begun the day, 
a happy, care-free girl, who had never known a 
real sorrow in her life. She could not be sure 
when to expect Louise. If she had been at home 
when the telegram reached the house, then she 
might have been able to take a train without any 
delay ; but Louise had written all about the con- 
cert she had expected to attend that afternoon, 
and so Nellie knew it was possible that she might 
not receive the telegram until some hours after 
it was sent. 

It was the night of the weekly prayer-meet- 
ing, and the desolate family knew that they 
would be most tenderly remembered in prayer 
by the m^embers of their church. As the bell 
rang its summons to the meeting, the little family 
sat by their desolate fireside, trying now and then 
to speak some word of comfort to each other, but 
feeling more than they had done all day the ter- 
rible void that the loss of the husband and father 
had made in the home. 

They could not expect Louise for some hours, 
even if she had been able to take the first train 
after the receipt of the telegram. The pale, tired 


90 


SILVER BOWLS. 


mother had to go back to her room before long, 
and leave Nellie to see those who came in after 
the evening meeting had been concluded, while 
Fred went up stairs and threw himself on the bed 
beside sleeping Dottie and cried hot, bitter tears 
that he did not try to restrain. 


COMING HOME. 


91 


CHAPTER VIII. 

COMING HOME. 

The end of the long journey was reached at 
last, and the train stopped at Weston. 

“ Come, dear,” and Mrs. Meade had to touch 
Louise to arouse her from her lethargy of grief. 

Fred was waiting for them with a carriage 
which a friend had sent to meet the travellers, 
and as Louise stepped out into the darkness at 
the end of the dimly lighted station, he put his 
arms about her and lifted her to the ground. 

“ Oh, Aunt Belle,” he exclaimed as his aunt 
followed Louise, “ mother will be so glad to see 
you ! It was good in you to come.” 

It was only a short drive to the house, and 
Mrs. Meade had barely time to learn what had 
so suddenly ended her brother-in-law’s life, be- 
fore they stopped at the house. 

“Apoplexy,” was Fred’s reply, and Louise 
breathed a little sigh of relief. She had been so 
afraid that it had been some accident that had 
wrenched her beloved father away, and she had 
not dared to ask, much as she wanted to know. 

Even yet, after the hurried summons home, 
the long ride with the words of the telegram 


SILVER BOWLS. 


92 

throbbing in her brain keeping time to the 
rumbling of the train, it seemed as if when she 
stepped upon the porch that her father would 
come out to greet her. She shuddered as the 
floating ends of black crape fluttered against her 
dress when she entered the open door. She felt 
as if death had touched her, and she hurried 
through the door to meet her mother’s warm 
embrace. 

“ I want father. Where is he ?” were Louise’s 
first words, and Nellie led her to, the room where 
the quiet form was laid with folded hands and 
serene face. 

Then Louise realized it, when she laid her 
face, warm with life, against the one which was 
as cold as if it had been chiselled out of marble, 
and touched the hands which for the first time 
that she could remember did not respond to her 
clasp. It was so new a thing to have a grief or 
even a girlish annoyance which her father could 
not comfort, and nov/ she must bear this first 
great grief of her life without him. 

“ Like as a father pitieth his children.” 

The words seemed to repeat themselves to 
her as she stood beside the quiet sleeper. She 
remembered the first time she had read them 
when she was a little child, and how she had 
climbed upon her father’s knee to ask what they 
meant. He had explained that just as he was 





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Silver Bowls. Page 92 






COMING HOME. 


93 


sorry for all her troubles, so God pitied his chil- 
dren and comforted them in their sorrows ; and 
he bade her remember that there would often be 
times in her life when he could not comfort her, 
no matter how sorry he might be for her, but 
that there would never be a time when God 
could not comfort her. And she had come to 
one of those times at last. Those sealed lips 
could not speak one word of comfort to her now, 
but she still had a Father, one whose love and 
pity would never fail. The fountains of her tears 
were unsealed, and she burst into a passion of 
grief as she threw herself down beside her 
father. It relieved the tension of the un 
natural calm, and rested her, although she shook 
from head to foot with the violence of her 
emotion. 

Nellie was frightened at her sister’s grief, 
but Aunt Belle said gently, 

“ Let her cry ; it will do her good now.” 

It did do her good. By-and-by, when sor- 
row had had its way, Louise became quiet and 
opened her heart to the comfort which she 
knew was waiting for her. There was some- 
thing to be thankful for even in the midst of 
this dark cloud : death had not come violently, 
nor after long days of weariness and pain, to the 
beloved one. “ He was not, for God took him,” 
and he had dropped asleep as peacefully as if he 


94 


SILVER BOWLS. 


had been but a tired child, gone to rest in the 
tender arms which are strong enough to cradle 
the world. 

Looking back afterward to those next days 
they all said, “What would we have done 
without Aunt Belle ?” 

The mother was too completely prostrated 
by the sudden shock, coming at a time when 
she was tired and worn out at best, to assume 
any responsibility, and the children were thank- 
ful that some one could take the helm out of 
their unsteady hands and guide things aright. 
There was so much to do, so many things to 
see to, and Aunt Belle seemed to understand 
everything by a sort of intuition. She was the 
mainstay of the whole household during the 
days that followed, and at last, after the dear 
form had been laid to rest, and plans had to be 
made for taking up the broken threads of life 
and going on without the head of the house, 
it was to Aunt Belle that all the family looked 
for advice. 

It had not occurred to them to wonder how 
they were to go on living without any source of 
income ; the shock of their bereavement had been 
all that they had been able to take in ; but the 
question had arisen in the minds of many of 
their friends. There was the house, that meant 
a home ; and there would be a slender income 


COMING HOME. 


95 


from the life insurance which had been all that 
the doctor could leave, but that would scarcely 
be enough to provide for the wants of Mrs. 
Rushton and little Dottie, without making any 
allowance for the older ones. Nellie had already 
made plans to help in the fall. She would 
graduate the coming June, and she had been 
promised a position as assistant in the primary 
department at the Academy. It had been her 
great ambition to fit herself for being a teacher, 
and after she undertook the duties of assistant 
teacher she was still to continue some of her 
studies and prepare herself for a higher grade. 
Her salary, though small, would be sufficient to 
provide for all her wants and enable her to help 
her mother a little. Nellie had gladly antici- 
pated the day when she would begin to lighten 
the load of care that rested so heavily upon her 
father’s shoulders, and it was a bitter thought to 
her that her help would come too late to relieve 
him. It was a little comfort to remember that 
he had known about it and had sympathized 
with her in her ambition to be a teacher. 

Fred had always intended to be a doctor, and 
his father had been glad to think that his son 
would take his place some day. The boy had 
inherited a strong love for that profession and 
looked forward eagerly to the day when he 
might begin the practice of medicine. Now 


SILVER BOWLS. 


96 

this hope seemed entirely out of the question, 
for it seemed imperative that he should go to 
work at once at something that would enable 
him to take care of himself. He had not real- 
ized how this hope was part of his very life, 
until he had to wrench it out of his heart and 
try to make himself willing to do whatever 
should come first to his hand. 

There were any number of people to whom 
the doctor had shown great kindness in times of 
trouble who v/ould have gladly done something 
for his children and wife now, but for the 
greater part they were poor themselves and 
unable to offer any practical assistance. 

Louise knew that her plan of fitting herself 
to teach music must be given up. To begin 
with, it would take too long to prepare herself, 
and then it would take time to get pupils. Her 
help must begin at once, and she wondered 
drearily whether there was anything that she 
was prepared to do. Already that happy life at 
her aunt’s seemed years behind her, and she 
could hardly realize that it was only a week ago 
that she had been preparing so joyously for the 
concert and saying that she should always re- 
member that day. It was in truth one that she 
would always remember, both for the joy of its 
dawning and the blackness of the shadow that 
fell upon the latter half of it. 


COMING HOME. 9/ 

Mr. Meade came on and talked the matter 
over with his wife, and decided what they could 
do that would be the greatest benefit to the 
bereaved family. They would have been glad 
to take Louise back with them, for they had 
grown to love the merry, sweet-tempered girl 
dearly in the few months she had been with 
them ; but it seemed better to offer to give Fred 
a chance to prepare himself to enter the medical 
profession. The boy was fond of study and well 
advanced for his years, and while, if he con- 
tinued his studies, it would be some years before 
he would be able to help his mother, yet he 
would then be fitted to make a great deal more 
of himself and fulfil his own ambition and his 
father’s wish for him. If he took any place he 
could get, without particular fitness and apti- 
tude for it, he would earn only a pittance that 
would barely keep him in clothes, and it would 
be almost as long before his help would amount 
to very much. It was a generous offer to make, 
and the boy was overv/helmed by it, he had 
been so sure that no way could possibly be 
opened up by which he could continue his 
beloved studies. At first he felt as if he were 
taking Louise’s place and opportunities, and 
thought that he ought, as the only boy in the 
family, to be of as much immediate help as he 
could ; but his uncle explained to him that by 


Silver Bowls. 


SILVER BOWLS. 


98 

fitting himself for a position of higher useful- 
ness he would be able to do much more for his 
mother after a while. Louise urged her en- 
treaties that he would do as his uncle wished, 
and when his mother seemed to desire more 
than anything else that he should be fitted to 
enter the profession which his father had 
adorned, he thought that he ought to follow the 
wishes of his friends, even if they did harmo- 
nize with his own wishes to such an extent that 
he feared he was indulging in selfishness. 

An offer came to Louise soon that she felt 
she must accept, although it was very different 
from any employment that she would have 
chosen for herself. It came from an unex- 
pected source, and at first she was scarcely 
grateful for it, though upon reflection she saw 
that she might consider herself very fortunate 
when she realized how few things she was fitted 
to do. A dressmaker, whose family her father 
had attended for years, called one evening and 
asked to see Louise, and after trying to tell her 
in broken words how deeply she sympathized 
with her in her great loss, and how beloved the 
doctor had been by her family and herself, she 
sat for a while in silence with the air of one 
who has not finished her errand and yet who 
hardly knows how to deliver it. 

Louise was too preoccupied with her own 


COMING HOME. 


99 


sad thoughts to notice her visitor’s hesitation, 
until at last with a preliminary “Ahem !’’ Mrs. 
Martin broke the silence. 

“ There is something I wanted to tell you 
about, Miss Louise, only I am so afraid that I 
might hurt your feelings, and that is the last 
thing I would do on purpose; I loved your 
dear father too much for that. It ’s only some- 
thing that I thought you might like to know 
about now that things have changed so sadly 
with you, and yet it may be that you wont find 
it of any use after all.” 

“What is it?” asked Louise indifferently. 

“ Excuse me for asking the question right 
out, will you please. Miss Louise, but I never 
was one to know how to go about a thing 
nicely,” said Mrs. Martin still more apologeti- 
cally. “ It ’s only this that I wanted to know : 
shall you feel as if you must try to get some- 
thing to do now that your dear father ’s gone ?” 

“Yes, I must help in some way,” Louise an- 
swered, beginning to take more interest in Mrs. 
Martin’s conversation now that she perceived 
the drift of her remarks. 

“ There is a position that my daughter was 
promised for next month ; but she was taken 
poorly with her back again, and so I thought I 
would try to keep her at home another year and 
let her get a little stronger before she went to 


100 


SILVER BOWLS. 


doing anything. I had meant to let her go, she 
was so anxious, but just yesterday she was so 
lame that she could not sit up, and I told her 
that she must give up thinking of it. I don’t 
know that I should have thought of you if it 
had n’t been for her, but she said, ‘ It ’s such a 
good place, mother, I wonder if Miss Rushton 
would n’t like it,’ and so I thought it over and 
concluded that anyhow I would come and ask 
you about it, and if you did n’t want it, why it 
would n’t be any harm done ; and it might be 
that you would care for it.” 

Louise wondered what place it could be that 
would suit Susie Martin equally well with her- 
self, and she asked, 

“ What is the position ? You were very kind 
to think about me.” 

'‘It’s cashier in a large store in Millers- 
town, answered Mrs. Martin. “You see it’s a 
good position in this way : the proprietor is a 
friend of my brother’s, and he said he would 
take Susie without any experience as long as 
she ’s quick with figures, and he pays big wages. 
He gives his cashier ten dollars a week, and 
there ’s a nice place near the store where he 
said he could get board for Susie at three-and-a- 
half dollars a week. It ’s a nice quiet place to 
board, just a small family, that go to the same 
church he does, so he knows about them. I 


COMING HOME. 


lOI 


thought maybe if I spoke for you, he would 
take you just as quick as he would Susie, and 
then you could make something over and above 
taking care of yourself right away. In most 
places they want experience, and it ’s pretty hard 
to get anything to do when you haven’t been 
brought up to it. I hope you wont feel offended 
at my telling you about it,” she concluded. 

“ Of course not. It was very kind in you in- 
deed,” Louise answered. “ I must talk it over 
with mother and uncle, but I will let you know 
about it to-morrow.” 

“ Not a very inviting prospect,” Louise 
thought, as she showed her visitor out; but 
when she came to think the matter over she re- 
alized that she had not yet formed any definite 
plan for her future. She was not fitted to teach 
any particular branch, she was not skilled in 
any one kind of manual labor ; in short she was 
in just the helpless condition in which so many 
girls of the present day would find themselves 
if they were suddenly thrown upon their own 
resources, and she might well be grateful if any 
one could find occasion for her unskilled labor, 
even if it was not just what she would have 
chosen. 


102 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER IX. 

PLANS. 

Ten dollars a week was certainly more than 
she could earn in any other position that she 
might obtain ; and though when the door first 
closed behind her visitor, Louise had felt that 
her plea of consulting her mother and uncle 
before she came to any decision was as much to 
get time to frame an excuse for not accepting 
the offer which had evidently been prompted 
by such kindness of heart, as to talk the matter 
over ; yet she came to regard it very differently 
after she had spent a little time in her own 
room thinking about it. It was not the position 
that she would have chosen for herself, to be 
sure, if she could have consulted her own wishes 
in regard to an occupation, but preferences had 
to be set aside just now. She had had a vague 
hope that she could find something to do that 
would enable her to stay at home with her mo- 
ther, but what that something would be she 
had no definite idea. There were very few 
occupations open in Weston for either boys or 
girls, apart from the factory work, and it would 
hardly have been likely that she could have 


PLANS. 


103 

found anything else that would have proved as 
remunerative as this offer. After she had paid 
her own expenses, she would still be able to do 
something for her mother, and this was what 
she had most earnestly desired. An hour of 
quiet thought resulted in the decision that if her 
mother’s consent could be won, as it could be 
no doubt if she saw that Louise herself real- 
ly wished to go, she would take the position 
which had so unexpectedly opened up before 
her, and begin to help by taking her place in 
the ranks of the breadwinners. It was a hard 
decision to reach, but life seemed very hard 
just now to Louise, and perhaps it would not be 
any harder to be away from home among stran- 
gers than it would be to stay where everything 
was so keenly associated with the dear father. 

Her uncle approved of her decision, though 
he regretted that it was necessary. He knew 
better than Louise how many discouragements 
she would meet with when she went out from a 
sheltered home-life into the world, and he 
would have been glad to have spared her if it 
had been possible. In undertaking Fred’s ed- 
ucation, however, he was doing all that he pos- 
sibly could, and not a little self-denial would be 
entailed upon his family in consequence of this 
generosity. 

The next morning Louise sent word to Mrs. 


104 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Martin that she would be glad to take the place 
of which she had spoken to her, and in the 
course of the next few days the preliminaries 
were arranged and the day set for her to go to 
her new home. Home ! The word seemed a 
mockery as Louise repeated it bitterly to herself. 
What of home could there be among stran- 
gers who knew nothing and cared nothing for 
her? If she did her work well she would be 
paid for it, and this money-getting transaction 
would be all the tie that would hold her either 
to her place of occupation or to the place where 
she was to board. There would be no love, no 
patience, no forbearance with mistakes — only 
cold business relations. It was like going from 
the tropics to the polar regions as Louise pic- 
tured the change of surroundings. It was so 
different from the going away of last fall when 
she had nothing but the most joyous anticipa- 
tions. Louise felt as if no other girl had ever 
gone through such a trial before, and if it were 
not that she did not want to add to her mother’s 
depression she would have put into words very 
gloomy forebodings of unhappiness. To be 
sure in a few years her friend Ella Lindsay ex- 
pected to leave home and friends and go away 
for years among strangers, and instead of being 
only a few miles away, the ocean would roll be- 
tween her and the dear home - land ; but there 


PLANS. 105 

was some inspiration in her going, for her object 
would be to do good. 

Louise forgot that she might have the same 
inspiration that animated Ella Lindsay, in fol- 
lowing God’s plan for her life. She could not 
look upon her proposed undertaking as any- 
thing else but a mere monetary transaction. 
Her aunt might have put things before her in a 
different light if she had talked the matter over 
with her ; but she avoided speaking of her dis- 
like to the new employment lest it should 
seem too much like complaint that she could not 
return to her aunt’s home, and Louise felt that 
her uncle and aunt had been so generous in 
their offer to Fred that she did not want to 
complain of any hard things that might fall to 
her lot, and she was afraid that Fred himself 
might be unhappy at the idea of taking his 
sister’s place if she fretted over her intended 
occupation. Her depression and silence were 
looked upon as only natural under the circum- 
stances, and so she gave no one any opportunity 
to comfort her in the trouble which weighed 
heavily upon her, in addition to her sorrow at 
her father’s death. 

After Mr. and Mrs. Meade had gone home, 
taking Fred with them, there was too much to 
do for the other members of the family to give 
way to their sorrow, as they naturally would 


io6 


SILVER BOWLS. 


have done if it had been possible. It seems 
hard to take up the trivial tasks and go about 
the round of daily duties just as if the dear one 
who had been a continual inspiration had not 
been taken away from our side ; and yet it is 
something to be thankful for if circumstances 
compel us to action. Brooding over sorrow 
only unfits us for contact again with the realities 
of life, and even an enforced activity is more 
wholesome than folded hands. 

Mrs. Rushton was not strong, and the sud- 
den shock of her bereavement had made her 
almost an invalid, so Nellie found her hands 
full to overflowing with her school duties and 
the household duties, which she took upon her- 
self to relieve her mother as much as possible. 
Kitty was dismissed and the expenses curtailed 
in every direction, that the tiny income might 
be sufficient for all purposes. If anything could 
have reconciled Louise to taking up her new 
work, it would have been her knowledge of the 
necessity that she should do something both 
for herself and her mother. She would not add 
to her mother’s sorrow at her departure by a 
single word of regret, but bravely hid her re- 
luctance even from Nellie. Not even when the 
train that was to take her to Millerstown moved 
out of the station would she shed one tear, 
though she felt as if her heart were breaking. 


PLANS. 


107 


It seemed to her that the ghost of her happy 
girlhood had followed her down to the station, 
but had left her there when she bought a ticket 
to Millerstown. It could not be possible that 
the old joyousness and lightness of heart could 
ever come back to her, when she had to make 
her own way in a world of strangers without her 
father’s strong arm to protect her, and no one to 
make the hard places of life smooth before her. 


io8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER X. 

THE OTHER END. 

Let us take a peep into the home at the other 
end of Louise’s journey of which she is to be- 
come a member. A girl of about Louise’s own 
age, with her sleeves rolled up, showing a pair 
of very sharp elbows, which I only mention be- 
cause they carried out the general impression of 
sharpness that every feature in her face and 
every line of her figure suggested, was making 
bread at the kitchen table. A boy of sixteen was 
sitting by the fire, whittling desultorily at a bit 
of stick. From the emphatic way in which the 
girl moved, and her compressed lips and flushed 
face, it was evident that some unpleasant subject 
had been under discussion. 

“ I ’d like to be in your place for a few days,” 
she broke out at last, having kept silence as long 
as she could. 

“ Oh would you ! Why did n’t you mention it 
before?” asked the boy in mocking tones, affect- 
ing to understand that she wanted his seat. “You 
are very welcome to it, I think a few minutes 
would suit you better than a few days, if you had 
to listen to as much scolding as I do every time 


THE OTHER END. IO9 

I sit down here. Take my place by all means if 
you want it. I only wish you would.” 

“ Do n’t be an idiot, if you can help it,” re- 
turned the girl bitterly. “ You know well enough 
what I mean. I should like to be a great strong 
boy like you, with your chances, and if I could n’t 
find some good honest work that would pay for 
my food and clothes I would know the reason 
why, at any rate.” 

What an inquiring mind you must have !” 
answered the boy, still keeping up his mocking 
manner. The reason why is not hard to find 
out. It is simply that no one wants to avail him- 
self of my valuable assistance, that is all. It takes 
a little time to get much of a start in life. You 
knew as well as I did that when I went to Mr. 
Day’s, as soon as I left school, it would only be 
for a few months, and that it would be better for 
me to wait and find something permanent ; but 
you did n’t give me any peace until I took the 
job, and now you don’t give me any peace be- 
cause I can’t find another. What consistent 
things girls are !” 

“ I do n’t believe that it would take any one 
two months to get work if he really wanted to 
find it,” his sister answered hotly. “ I would 
rather starve than hang around doing nothing, as 
you do. You might as well have stayed in school, 
for all the help you are. If going to Mr. Day’s 


no 


SILVER BOWLS. 


will keep you from ever getting any other work, 
it ’s a pity that you went there. That is n’t any 
reason at all though, and you know it as well as 
I do. It ’s only because you are lazy.” 

“ What a deep one you are !” Tom answered, 
still teasingly, though his face flushed with anger 
at his sister’s words. They were unjust, and he 
knew it if she did not. All the day before he 
had trudged from one store to another trying to 
find work, and receiving everywhere the stereo- 
typed answer, 

“No boys wanted here just at present. Trade 
is too dull after the holidays to need any moro 
help.” 

He had tried faithfully to get work, and it 
was bad enough to be rebuffed and discouraged 
everywhere, without coming home to be taunted 
and scolded because he had not been able to 
succeed. It never occurred to him that it was 
partly his own fault — -fhat he had carefully kept 
from his sister the fact of his many efforts, and 
had sauntered into the house as indifferently as 
if his heart were not sore over the fact that no 
one seemed to have any place for him. He had 
tried to give her the impression that he had not 
cared very much whether he got any work or 
not, and then, strange to say, was vexed because 
she took him at his word. 

I suppose they loved each other, this brother 


THE OTHER END. 


1 1 1 


and sister, thougli you might have lived with 
them for months and never heard either of 
them say anything kind to each other. If either 
had died, no doubt the other would have shed 
tears, and would have grieved over the many 
unkind words that had passed between them ; 
but as long as they were both living and in good 
health their affection seemed to be buried so 
deeply that no ordinary circumstances could 
call forth the least expression of it. 

Perhaps you may think that such a brother 
and sister could exist only in imagination, but it 
is too true that there are many just such fami- 
lies where it takes some mighty upheaval of cir- 
cumstances to call forth the least expression of 
affection. 

They did not understand each other, that 
was the trouble ; and the most hopeless thing 
about it was that they did not try to understand 
or sympathize with each other, so there seemed 
very little prospect of their ever leading a more 
harmonious life. They were both to be pitied, 
and both in fault, though of course each threw 
all the blame upon the other. Tom's family had 
always looked upon him as a nuisance that was 
inevitable, and that had to be put up with some- 
how till he arrived at man’s estate. He could n’t 
be- farmed out nor raised in an incubator, so 
home had to be spoiled with him. Not that 


II2 


SILVER BOWLS. 


either his mother or sister ever put this feeling 
into words — and I am not sure but that they 
would have been shocked and have indignantly 
denied it if taxed with it — yet nevertheless that 
was their true attitude towards Tom, and the 
boy was fully aware of it. 

Away from home he had plenty of friends. 
He was a merry, mischievous boy, given to teas- 
ing, as many a boy is, without a thought of 
causing any real pain by his nonsense, but kind- 
hearted and generous to a fault, and ready to 
take the weakest one’s part in any battle. Get 
on the right side of Tom once, and he would go 
to the world’s end for you without a word of re- 
monstrance ; and all the guile that was required 
to find this same right side was a pleasant word 
and a request instead of an order. He was more 
observant and thoughtful than most people gave 
him credit for, and under all his nonsense there 
was a vein of real earnestness. 

Tom never expected anything from his mo- 
ther but a fretful wail of remonstrance whenever 
he came near her, either about something he had 
done inadvertently, or something that he might 
do if he wasn’t warned. He never expected 
anything from the sister who made up the rest 
of the family but hectoring taunts and sarcastic 
speeches, which sometimes made him wince, 
even though he was well used to them. I am 


THE OTHER END. 


II3 

not sure whether he was to be congratulated or 
not upon his indifference to the home atmo- 
sphere. To have grown callous to unkindness is 
almost a more pitiable case than to be hurt and 
stung by it, but it has some advantages. If Tom 
had been sensitive to reproof he might have 
been driven away from home altogether before 
now ; as it was, he endured it when he was 
obliged to be in it, and gave his family as little 
of his company as possible when he had any 
other place to go to. Not that Tom was fault- 
less himself, nor that he was not partly responsi- 
ble for this state of things. He never tried to 
be anything else but a tease. 

Because he knew the next thing would be, 
“ Oh, Tom, can’t you sit up instead of sprawling 
over everything !” he would throw himself down 
across two chairs ; and if he forgot it and his 
mother said, 

“ Well, I am glad to see you sitting up like 
any one else for once,” then he would look 
about for something else to do, so that she 
“might have something to nag about,” as he 
expressed it. 

He had rather a poor opinion of women-folk 
in general, and his own family in particular, and 
perhaps it was not very much to be wondered 
at under all the circumstances. He would have 
opened his eyes in incredulous amazement if 

Silver Bowls. 8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


II4 

any one had told him that there were heroic, 
tin selfish traits about his sister which were well 
worthy of admiration. That she had a hard life, 
which he might have brightened for her if he 
had ever tried, would have astonished him still 
more. He had taken the existing state of af- 
fairs for granted, and never thought anything 
about it. 

Perhaps Mallie was more to be pitied than 
blamed, all things being considered, for she 
certainly had a hard life of it. It need not have 
been so hard if she had sometimes had a little 
sympathy to brighten it, or if she had not so 
persistently looked upon the dark side of every- 
thing. Her disposition had been warped by the 
necessity of always struggling to make ends 
meet, and in continually falling short of this en- 
deavor in spite of her best efforts. 

Everything had seemed to be against her. 
She had been thwarted in all her plans for 
her life, and it never occurred to her that God’s 
plans were better. She had been obliged to 
leave school when her father died, and stay at 
home to earn what she could by working for a 
box-factory. Both the mother and sister wanted 
to keep Tom at school till he was fifteen, and 
there was real self-denial in their efforts, although 
Tom had never thought of it. A year ago the 
mother was crippled by a severe attack of rheu- 


THE OTHER END. 


II5 

matism, and was now almost helpless and re- 
quired a great deal of attention. It was no light 
burden then that rested upon young Mallie’s 
shoulders, to care for the somewhat fretful inva- 
lid, to do the necessary housework, and yet find 
time to work for the factory. Naturally not of 
the sweetest of dispositions, her nerves grew un- 
strung by the overwork and constant anxiety, 
and she fell unconsciously into the habit of irri- 
tability, an easy habit to acquire. 

She had thought it a hardship to do so much 
work, but a still greater hardship had befallen 
her in the cutting off of the supply of work. 
The box factory had closed for some months, 
and now there was no way in which she could 
earn any money. If Tom could only get a place 
where his wages would help along, it would not 
be so bad ; but, as Mallie thought bitterly, he 
did not half try, and so of course he did not suc- 
ceed. She had saved up a little money while she 
had work, but it was dwindling very fast, and 
what would they do then ? 

There were other things that she could do, 
if she could only leave home, but her mother 
had to be taken care of, and some one had to 
see to the housekeeping, so it was out of the 
question for her to think of looking for any em- 
ployment that would take her out of the house. 
That very morning she had touched the bottom 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Il6 

of the flour barrel when she went to it to get out 
the flour for the baking, and it was the anxiety 
as to how it would be replenished that made an- 
other wrinkle come between her eyes and lent 
even more than usual acerbity to her voice. If 
she had known that Tom cared and was honestly 
doing his best to get work, it would have light- 
ened her load of worry wonderfully; but she 
she did not know that, and she had forgotten 
that God cared, so it was not strange that she 
felt her burden a very heavy one. 

God never sends us a burden too heavy to 
lift up and put into his hand, but he sends us 
many a one that we cannot bear alone, and that 
well-nigh crushes us if we carry it upon our 
shoulders. 


HELP. 


117 


CHAPTER XI. 

PIELP. 

That morning, seeing an advertisement for 
a boy in the morning paper, Tom had started 
off to answer it, hoping as earnestly as Mallie 
did that he might get the place. He had 
failed however, not for want of sufficiently good 
references, but because there was the usual 
crowd of applicants and some one else had 
been chosen first. He did not know where else 
to go to look for work, and there really seemed 
nothing to do for a little while but to wait for 
something to open before him. Surely there 
would be some chance for a strong, willing, 
well-grown boy if he watched for it. 

He had been bitterly disappointed, and had 
turned away with a downcast face from the store, 
saying to himself, 

“ Just my luck ! Here I am eating my head 
off and can ’t get a thing to do !” but there was 
not the slightest trace of his disappointment to 
be seen when he reached home. 

Well ?” Mallie had interrogated eagerly. 

“ Well,” Tom mocked, sitting down by the 
fire to get warm. 

“ I suppose you did n’t get the place,” said 


Il8 SILVER BOWLS. 

Mallie. “You would n’t look as well pleased as 
you do, at the prospect of work. You would 
rather be out of a job than not, I know. Did 
you go and try at all for it?” 

“Oh, yes,” said Tom lazily. “I took a hack 
and drove around there, and sent in for the boss 
to come out and look at me. He did n’t quite 
suit me, so I told him he was n’t my style, and 
I guessed I would n’t engage him. I ’ll look up 
somebody else.” 

Mallie knew that this was all pure nonsense 
on Tom’s part, but she had been hoping so ear- 
nestly all the time he was gone that he might 
be successful, that his indifference about his 
failure to get the place irritated her beyond her 
endurance. She had been bitter and sarcastic, 
and Tom had been aggravating and indifferent, 
until the gathering storm had broken in an open 
quarrel. 

“ I think laziness must run in our family,” 
Tom went on, after his last remark. “ It never 
struck me that you ever got much done beyond 
getting out of your own way. They do say that 
there are some people too lazy to do that, but 
I guess you’re hardly that lazy yet.” 

Then poor nervous, overworked Mallie had 
bunst into a perfect storm of scolding. To be 
called lazy when she was almost worked to 
death, she said to herself bitterly, was too much 


HELP. 


119 

for any one to endure. Even Tom’s temper 
was roused at last, and he got up and put on his 
coat and hat and dashed out, saying bitterly as 
he went that, as far as he cared, he would like 
never to see his home or his sister again. 

“After all I have done for that boy, too,” 
said Mallie, wiping away the tears which made 
a blur before her eyes. She forgot that her 
words had taken all the kindness out of her 
deeds in Tom’s eyes, and he really believed that 
his sister had no feelings except those which 
she expressed towards him. 

Mallie finished her bread and set the loaves 
to rise, and then she went up stairs and put on 
her street-dress. She must go to the store to 
try to get something for dinner at the lowest 
outgo of expense and the greatest amount 
of nourishment. Yesterday Tom had not 
come in to dinner, and she had saved her piece 
of meat to add to his, because she knew he 
would be hungry and cold, and that his portion 
was but a small one for a hungry, growing boy. 
And then he had talked so hatefully to her, she 
thought angrily. She forgot that Tom did not 
know of her self-denial, but had only heard her 
scold because he was so late in coming in and 
kept the table waiting. 

She had to get some buttons for a dress she 
was making over, trying to coax it to last 


120 


SILVER BOWLS. 


througli another winter, and while she stood by 
the counter, waiting for her change, she heard 
a gentleman say to the proprietor of the store, 
“ If I only knew of some place near the store 
where she could get board at a low figure ! I 
board, myself, but I am too far away from the 
store, and the board is too high. She could not 
afford to pay over three or four dollars a week 
out of her wages.” 

“ It isn’t an easy thing to find a boarding- 
place such as you want,” said the proprietor. 
“ Of course a regular boarding-house would not 
be pleasant for your niece, and they would be 
rather too high-priced besides; but though I 
dare say there are plenty of private families 
where they would be glad enough to take her 
to help along, yet the question is how to find 
one.” 

Mallie fairly gasped with excitement. There 
was the spare room ! It was the prettiest room 
in the house, and if there was anything that 
Mallie could do, it was to cook. She knew she 
could make a boarder comfortable and yet be 
able to make money. What a help it would be 
if she could only get this person Mr. Amery was 
speaking about! 

“ Excuse me,” she said eagerly, I thought I 
heard you saying something about wanting to 
find a boarding-place for some one.” 


HELP. 


21 


“Yes, for my niece, who is coming here as 
cashier next month,” said the gentleman. 
“ Could you accommodate her, Miss Norris ?” 

“ I should be very glad indeed to take her,” 
Mallie answered, recognizing the gentleman as 
one who attended the same church with her- 
self. 

There was a brief conversation, and the result 
was that Mr. Amery had engaged to have his 
niece board with Miss Norris at the rate of three 
dollars and a half a week. Not a very great 
sum, but it lightened the cloud of anxiety and 
made Mallie feel as if they were going to get 
along after all, while she had come out feeling 
as if they must surely all go to the poorhouse if 
Tom did not get a place soon, for she could not 
see any way in which she could add to the in- 
come of the family without working out of the 
house. 

“Wasn’t it the luckiest thing that I went 
into the store just as I did !” she said to herself, 
as she went home in a state of elation very un- 
usual with her. 

Mallie was a member of the church, and 
seven years ago she had thought that she had 
learned to love and trust God as her Father, but 
in all these years she had not learned to associate 
any of the events of her daily life with him. 
She did not take any of her troubles as sent 


122 


SILVER BOWLS. 


by him, neither did she look upon her blessings 
as coming from his hand. God was in heaven 
and she was in an obscure corner of the earth, 
and he seemed to her a very long way off. On 
Sunday in church she did come nearer to him 
sometimes, but when the worries of week-day 
life began again she was as far away as ever. 
This careful adjustment of her need with the 
needs of some one else, that some would have 
called a special providence, was only “ a piece 
of luck ” to Mallie, and so she missed the com- 
fort of believing that it was help sent to her in 
this way for her time of need. 

She always hurried to get back to her mother 
as soon as possible when Tom was out, for she 
did not like to leave the invalid alone, even when 
she had placed everything beside her that she 
was likely to want ; so when Mrs. Norris heard 
her coming quickly into the house, she did not 
know that this time it was the good news she 
had to bring that hastened her steps. It was 
from her mother that Mallie inherited her dispo- 
sition to look on the dark side of life, and Mallie 
was so used to having her find fault with things 
even when she was pleased with them, that she 
was not at all discouraged when her mother be- 
gan to find fault with her new plan as soon as 
she broached it. 

“If it was only a gentleman now, instead of 


HELP. 


123 


a lady," she said. “ I have always heard that of 
all troublesome things a lady boarder was the 
worst. I had a friend who kept a boarding-house, 
and she told me often and often that she would 
rather have three men — or was it four men ? 
well, I forget which, but it do n’t make much dif- 
ference now — than one woman. She said women 
were so fussy, and they want hot irons and want 
to wash out their handkerchiefs in their room, 
and nobody knows what not. I am afraid this 
one will be one of that kind." 

“ Well, she can wash handkerchiefs in her room 
all the time she gets, and that wont be much," 
said Mallie, too happy to be at all depressed by 
her mother’s gloomy prophecies. “ I do n’t know 
what would have become of us, mother, if some- 
thing had n’t turned up, for Tom do n’t half try 
to get a place, and the money ’s most used up. It 
will be a great help to have three dollars and a 
half a week that I can count on, and I will give 
her her meals by herself, so that I wont have to 
get the same for Tom that I do for her. He 
would eat up all the profits of having a boarder 
if I should give him a chance at cake or pie." 

“ Tom is dreadful shiftless," said her mother 
in feeble complaint. “ He do n’t do half as much 
as a boy of his age ought to be doing. Why, he ’s 
most sixteen, and he ought to be making good 
wages by this time if he had any push to him. 


124 


SILVER BOWLS. 


I do n’t know what is going to become of Tom, 
I ’m sure.” 

Mallie did not answer. She was thinking 
again how fortunate it was that she had been 
standing by the counter when she heard the two 
gentlemen talking about finding a boarding-place 
for Mr. Amery ’s niece. She went into the spare 
room and looked about her with approving eyes. It 
looked rather stiff and bare, for Mallie had none 
of the love for fancy-work and pretty things that 
is inherent in most girl natures, but the furni- 
ture was in good repair, and the room was airy 
and comfortable. 

“ She will like it better here where she can 
have plenty of room than if she had to be crowd- 
ed into one of those stuffy little bedrooms at a 
boarding-house ; and she ’ll get as good food to 
eat, if I do say so myself,” said Mallie with a 
pleasant sense of capability. 

She went down to the kitchen to get dinner, 
actually singing, and her mother tried to count 
up how long it had been since such an unwonted 
sound had proceeded from the girl before. 

“ She may as well sing while she can, for 
maybe it will be but a sorry bargain after all,” 
she said to herself. 

The wrinkles in Mallie’s forehead smoothed 
out a little and the sharp expression softened, as 
she stepped about the kitchen, no longer worry- 


HELP. 


125 


ing over fhe scanty supply of everthing in the 
pantry, for was she not going to be able to re- 
plenish the stores soon with her own earnings ? 

Tom had wandered around in the cold ever 
since he dashed out of the house so angrily, 
and when dinner-time came he wished that he 
was not so hungry and then he would not go 
back to be scolded any more. He had eaten his 
breakfast hurriedly in order to be on hand when 
the hour came to make application for the ad- 
vertised place, and by noon he had a very well 
developed appetite. He had not a cent of change 
in his pockets or he would have gone into a 
baker’s and eaten something rather than have 
gone home and faced Mallie again and listened 
to the fault-finding which he had no doubt was 
waiting for him. 

When he came up to the kitchen door he 
stood still for a moment and listened with an ex- 
pression of amazement on his face. Was it pos- 
sible that Mallie was singing ! 

“ What ’s struck her anyway ?” asked Tom 
wonderingly. “ I have n’t heard her sing before 
since — I can’t remember when. She must be in 
a good temper.” 

Mallie was taking the hot crisp loaves of 
bread out of the oven as he went into the kitch- 
en, and she seemed to have forgotten that they 
had parted in anger. 


126 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ Tom, mind you do n’t track my clean floor 
up with your muddy boots,” was all she said, and 
Tom was too hungry to want to say anything dis- 
agreeable that might precipitate another quarrel. 

While they were eating, Mallie told Tom about 
her expected boarder, and the brother and sister 
had more pleasant conversation than they had 
enjoyed together for some time. 

“ It will be good for one thing,” said Tom in- 
wardly : “ Mallie will probably keep on her 
company manners all the time with a stranger 
about, and they are a very much finer variety 
than her every-day ones that she treats me to. 
I do wish I could get something to do. It ’s a 
shame for a girl to have to earn all the money 
and do the work besides.” 

If Tom had said the latter part of his thoughts 
aloud, it would have made Mallie feel very much 
more kindly towards him, but unfortunately it 
had never been the habit in this family to say 
anything pleasant to each other, even if they 
thought it, and so he kept his thoughts to him- 
self. 


A NEW HOME. 


127 


CHAPTER XII. 

A NEW HOME. 

Mallie had been informed that the boarder 
would not be Mr. Amery’s niece, but another 
young lady who had taken the position that the 
former had expected to fill ; still as she did not 
know either of the two she did not mind at all 
that there had been a change. If the boarder 
had not been coming, then her hopes would 
have fallen indeed, but otherwise the change 
did not affect her. 

She made the spare room look as well as she 
could, and it looked very inviting to her as she 
went up to give it the last touches on the after- 
noon of the day upon which she expected her 
guest. It was spotlessly clean, as everything 
was that came under Mallie’s jurisdiction, for 
she was very neat. It was the best she had 
ever known, so of course she could have no idea 
how cheerless and cold it would seem to Louise 
after her dainty nest of a room at her aunt’s. 

Tom was to go to the station and meet the 
boarder and carry her bag up to the house for 
her. He had objected very strongly to this, for 
he was rather shy and particularly disliked 
meeting strangers ; but Mallie insisted so 


128 


SILVER BOWLS. 


strongly upon it that he could not very well 
decline to do it. He was at the station in good 
time, though before he left the house he had 
managed to work Mallie up to the highest pitch 
of anxiety by protesting that he had two en- 
gagements before he could go to the station, 
and it was possible that he might not get there 
in time. 

“ I suppose she ’ll wait for me if I am not 
there, wont she?” he asked. 

“I don’t know whether she will or not,” 
Mallie said. “ Now go straight there, Tom, 
and do n’t be such a torment. I want you to be 
there when the train gets in.” 

If wishes were horses, beggars might ride,” 
was all the satisfaction Tom vouchsafed her as 
he started off whistling. 

Louise hardly knew which was the harder 
to bear, leaving home or reaching Millerstown. 
When the train began to slacken its speed and 
she saw that they were approaching the station, 
she wished that she might stay in the cars and 
go back home again without even making a 
trial of this new occupation. She would not 
cry, and the thought that there was no one in 
this strange place to care whether she shed 
tears or smiled helped her to force the tears 
back. As the train stopped she gathered up her 
bag and umbrella and stepped out, her heart 


A NEW HOME. 


129 


aching with loneliness and a sense of loss when 
she saw a young girl spring into her father’s 
arms and receive his kiss of welcome. 

Several people had left the train at this sta- 
tion, and Louise stood alone in the midst of the 
confusion incident to taking the trunks from 
the baggage-car and the passengers getting off 
and on the train, wondering which way to go 
and of whom to ask direction. 

Tom was taking observations at a distance. 

‘‘ I will just wait till I see some one who 
looks particularly helpless and lost, and then 
that will be the one,” he said to himself. I am 
not going up to a whole lot of strangers asking 
them if they happen to be the particular young 
lady that I am expecting. I should only get 
myself into a peck of trouble.” 

At last he decided that Louise must be the 
Miss Rushton that he had been sent to meet, so 
presently, seeing that she seemed to be looking 
about for some one, he stepped up to her and 
lifting his hat said politely, 

“ Is this Miss Rushton ?” 

Yes,” answered Louise. 

“ My sister sent me to meet you. You are to 
board with us,” Tom explained, taking posses- 
sion of Louise’s bag; and without asking any 
more questions she followed him. 

Tom’s quick eye noted the black dress and 
9 


Silver Bowls 


130 


SILVER BOWLS. 


the crape on her hat, and he saw that she was in 
mourning for some one. She was so silent and 
looked so sad that he mentally decided, 

“ Well, she wont be any addition to the 
pleasure of the family ; but I guess she wont 
have much to say anyhow, and I ’d rather have 
her quiet than have her like Mallie with such 
an awful lot to say. I v^^onder if Mallie will 
ever show her what a temper she ’s got.” 

Tom was not at all anxious to begin any 
conversation ; in fact it was rather a relief to 
him that he did not have to talk to his charge ; 
and Louise was too absorbed in her own sad 
thoughts to care to speak ; so they reached the 
house without a single word being spoken ex- 
cept once, when they passed the store where 
Louise was to be employed, and then Tom 
pointed it out to her. 

Mallie met her guest at the door with what 
was a very cordial welcome, for her, and showed 
Louise up to her room. 

“ I hope you will like it,” she said, as she 
opened the door and ushered her in. 

“Yes, it will do very well,” said Louise, turn- 
ing away from Mallie, that the tears which 
would well up in her eyes might not be ob- 
served. 

“I will go down and get some supper for 
you,” said Mallie. “Can you find the way 


A NEW HOME. 


13 ^ 

down stairs when you have tal^en your things 
off?” 

“Yes, I will come down after I rest a little,” 
Louise answered, struggling to keep some con- 
trol over herself till Mallie had left the room. 

It seemed as if the girl would never go away 
and close the door behind her. As soon as she 
had gone Louise locked it softly, that she might 
not have any interruption for a time. She 
threw herself down upon the bed and cried hot 
scalding tears, wondering that her heart did not 
break outright with her grief. What was there 
more that could be added to her burden? she 
asked : her beloved father gone, an exile from 
home, nothing before her but a life of toil, not 
ennobling and inspiring toil, but a routine of 
drudgery, and this cheerless place for a home 
instead of a place in a loved home circle. She 
could not bear it. After a few minutes she 
checked her tears, for she did not wish to arouse 
either curiosity or sympathy on the part of her 
hostess. There could not be the least congenial 
feeling between herself and this sharp-featured, 
fretful-looking girl, she was sure. She was glad 
that except at meal-times she need not have 
anything to do with her or the boy either, who 
was so different from Fred. Poor Louise could 
not see one gleam of sunshine in her future, and 
life’s burdens seemed too heavy to carry. 


132 


SILVER BOWLS. 


She took off her coat and hat and washed 
away the traces of her tears as well as she could. 
She was smoothing her disordered hair when 
Mallie came up to knock at the door and tell her 
that tea was ready. 

It was the family custom to eat in the 
kitchen, as Mrs. Norris’ meals were always 
carried to her room since her invalidism, and it 
made less work for Mallie to put the meals on 
the kitchen table for Tom and herself. Of 
course she must make different arrangements 
for a boarder, and so she set a small table for 
Louise in the sitting-room. It was a great relief 
to the latter to find that she was not obliged to 
sit down with the family, for she preferred to 
be left to her own thoughts ; and if she ate with 
the family, no doubt they would think that 
they must try to entertain her. 

Mallie was in a flutter of excitement. She 
was very anxious to do everything that was pos- 
sible for the comfort of her boarder, for it meant 
so much to her to have the little income every 
week upon which she could regularly depend, 
and Louise would no doubt be more comfortable 
than if she had gone to a more pretentious 
house where she was not of so much conse- 
quence. 

Louise was so miserable that she was indif- 
ferent whether her meal was a tempting one or 


A NEW HOME. 


33 


not ; but considering Mallie’s slender resources 
and the low rate of board that she asked, there 
was nothing to complain of, either in this first 
meal or in the following ones. Mallie had a 
genius for neatness, and so the plainly set table 
had the charm of perfect cleanliness. The 
dishes were heavy and plain, and when Louise 
lifted the heavy teacup to her lips she was glad 
to remember that in the box of things that her 
aunt was going to send her of her own personal 
belongings that she had accumulated while she 
was away that winter, there was a delicate china 
cup that would tempt one to drink from it even 
if inclination were lacking. There was a dish 
of shaved dried beef, fresh rolls which Mallie 
had taken out of the pan with honest pride as 
she looked at their lightness and golden-brown 
crispness, good butter, and apple-sauce and cake. 
If Louise had been hungry and had not been so 
sad at heart, she might have enjoyed the meal ; 
but as it was, after drinking a cup of tea and 
eating a small piece of a roll, she rose from the 
table. Mallie was disappointed, and her disap- 
pointment showed itself in her voice and face 
as she asked, 

“ Did n’t your tea suit you ? I never had a 
boarder before, so I do n’t know exactly how to 
make things comfortable. If you want any- 
thing different you must be sure to tell me, for 


134 


SILVER BOWLS. 


I want to make you as comfortable as I can. I 
wouldn’t like to have you go away because I 
didn’t have things as they should be.” 

There was something in her manner that 
gave Louise a dim realization that having a 
boarder was a matter of intense and vital im- 
portance to this girl, and she roused herself 
to say cordially, 

“ Everything was very nice indeed, thank 
you. I am sure that you will make me com- 
fortable. It is only because I am not hungry 
that I did not eat more.” 

The shadow lifted from Mallie’s face. 

“ I suppose you feel strange just at first,” she 
said with what she meant for sympathy. “You 
have lost somebody too, have n’t you ?” 

The tears came back to Louise’s eyes. 

“Yes,” she said huskily, and then finding 
that she could not say any more without break- 
ing down, she left the room hurriedly. 

“ Mallie ?” called her mother’s voice, and the 
girl went into the invalid’s room. 

“Well, mother?” she asked. 

“ Why do n’t you bring the boarder in and 
introduce her to me ? I want to see her, and I 
thought you ’d bring her in before she had tea. 
Here I have been waiting and waiting, and you 
never seem to think that I like to know about 
things even if I do have to lie here all the time.” 


A NEW HOME. 


135 


“ Well, I was going to bring her in when 
she had finished her tea,'’ Mallie answered. “ I 
supposed she ’d be hungry and would want 
something to eat first. She ’s dressed in 
mourning, and I guess she feels awful strange 
and bad about something too, for she did n’t 
hardly eat a bite ; and when I said something 
about her having lost some one, she looked as if 
she were going to cry and went up stairs as fast 
as she could go ; so of course I could n’t say 
anything about her coming in to see you. 
Maybe she will come down stairs after a 
while.” 

“ If she a’n’t going to like your victuals, I ’m 
afraid you are n’t going to keep your boarder 
long,” said her mother. 

“She didn’t find fault with her tea,” said 
Mallie sharply. “ I think it was good enough 
for anybody. I tell you it was because she was 
feeling bad that she did n’t eat more. She said 
herself that everything was very nice. I guess 
I can make any one as comfortable as that 
Miss Wiggins who keeps a boarding-house up 
by the factory, and asks three dollars and a 
half a week for board. I would n’t eat the 
things I ’ve seen her buying, if I had to go 
hungry ; and I ’m sure she is n’t any better cook 
than I am.” 

“ Well, time will tell,” said her mother. 


SILVER BOWLS. 


136 

“ It ’s an awful lot of bother anyhow for such 
a little money.” 

“Well, I can stand the bother,” said Mal- 
lie. “I’m willing to work pretty hard for the 
sake of getting along ; and now I can’t get any 
more boxes to make, I ’m only glad that there is 
something else that I can do. Nobody but me 
ever seems to think about where the money is 
going to come from.” 

“ Well, you do fussing and worrying enough 
for a whole family,” her mother answered. 

“ Goodness knows I need to,” Mallie retorted, 
and she flung herself out of the room and began 
to clear the table and put away the things. 

Fault-finding and angry retort were the atmo- 
sphere of the house, so she rarely thought how 
pleasant it would be if things were different ; 
but as she remembered that a stranger had 
come into their home, she had a faint wish that 
they might keep their quarrelling to themselves, 
and not have Miss Rushton hear the disputes 
which were continually arising. 


GETTING SETTLED. 


137 


CHAPTER XIII. 

GETTING SETTLED. 

“ I SUPPOSE I miglit as well unpack to-night,” 
Louise thought to herself, as she went up to her 
own room after tea and saw her trunk standing 
in the middle of the room where the express- 
man had placed it while she was down stairs. 
Perhaps the sight of her own things about the 
room would give it a little individuality, and 
make it have in some small degree the atmo- 
sphere of home. 

Nellie had packed the trunk, and guessing 
how bare and dreary the room might seem to 
Louise after the cosiness of her chamber at 
home and the daintiness of her room at her 
aunt’s, she had put in everything that could be 
spared about the house that would add to Lou- 
ise’s comfort. By the time that Louise had re- 
placed the clean towel on the bureau and wash- 
stand with pretty toilet covers, and had put her 
Bible and books o.f devotional reading on the 
little stand, with a framed picture of her dear 
father, and had scattered little trifles here and 
there, the room had a more homelike air than 
she could have believed possible an hour ago. 


38 


SILVER BOWLS. 


She was surprised to find how much Nellie 
had stored away in the large trunk. Even her 
favorite engravings had been put in, and she 
was almost as glad to see them as if they had 
been living friends, for they would relieve the 
monotony of the bare walls and help make her 
room a home instead of merely a sleeping-place. 
Fortunately nails had been driven in the wall, 
so she had plenty of places to hang her pictures, 
and by the time she had draped a scarf over 
the corner of one, and hung a dainty calendar 
beneath another, she felt as if she had trans- 
formed the room. 

Unconsciously Louise was recovering from 
her intense depression. That she would grieve 
sorely for her father for a long time, and that 
through all the rest of her life there would run 
a vein of longing for him, was undoubtedly 
true, but her naturally happy disposition would 
discover some things in her new life and sur- 
roundings that would make them brighter than 
she had at first thought possible. 

Mallie came up stairs and knocked at the 
door about nine o’clock. *‘Oh how pretty the 
room does look !” she exclaimed involuntarily, 
as Louise opened it and she glanced past her. 
“ Mr. Hardman, from the store, called just now 
to ask if you had come and would be on hand 
to-morrow morning, and he said he would like 


GETTING SETTLED. ’ 1 39 

to Speak to you a moment if you were not too 
tired.’’ 

‘‘I will come down,” Louise answered, and 
she followed Mallie down into the parlor to be 
introduced to her employer. 

He was a brusque, business-like man, who, 
though he had a kind heart, made business one 
thing and kindness another, as he expressed it. 
“ Well, so you ’ve come,” he said. “ I under- 
stand that you have never done anything of the 
kind before ; in fact that this is your first at- 
tempt at business.” 

“Yes,” Louise answered. “ I was fitting my- 
self for a music teacher, but changes in our 
home circumstances made it necessary for me to 
do something at once.” 

“So I was told,” Mr. Hardman said, with a 
glance at Louise’s black dress. “Well, I sup- 
pose it will be pretty hard for you for a while, 
but you will get used to it, and I hope you will 
suit me and the place suit you. The cashier I 
have had for five years is going to be married, 
and I suppose she thinks she is bettering her- 
self. I do n’t like to change often, and when I 
get a good worker I like to keep her. Now I 
am going to give you a little advice that may 
sound hard, though I don’t mean it to hurt your 
feelings. Business is business. That ’s what I 
tell every one when they come to work for me ; 


140 


SILVER BOWLS. 


and even if you have been brought up to be a 
lady and not work for your living, now you Ve 
had to come down to it — if it is coming down, 
which I never think, for I respect independence 
in man, woman, or child — you must n’t expect 
any favors or privileges in business hours. 
You ’ll have your work to do, and I shall expect 
you to do it, just as I would expect a man to do 
it. If a girl goes into business I never see any 
more reason for her shirking her work than for 
a man. I do n’t want you to come to my store 
thinking that I shall make allowances for care- 
less work or unpunctuality because you ’ve 
never had to work for your living before. I 
had a girl come once who thought that, and I 
had to let her go in a month, for I found that I 
could n’t depend upon her at all. I do n’t know 
that you would be at all like her, but I thought 
it best for us to have a little understanding 
about it. If you are doing anything for your 
family and friends, just in a friendly way, why 
it does not matter if it isn’t done just so ; they 
will overlook it. If you are doing anything in a 
business way and expect to get paid for it, why 
then the person you are doing it for has a right 
to expect that it will be perfect and up to the 
mark. I do n’t see why women should n’t make 
as good business people as men, if they could 
only get the idea that business is business into 


GETTING SETTLED. 


I4I 

their heads. Some of them do, and those are 
the ones that succeed. Some of them keep on 
thinking that anyhow at all will do because they 
are women, and that allowance will be made for 
them, and so they never get on.” 

“ I hope that you will not find it necessary to 
make any allowance for me after I understand 
what my work is to be,” said Louise. I shall 
try to do my best, and though it may take me a 
little while to get used to the work, I hope I 
shall suit you after a while.” 

Do your best and you will suit me first 
rate,” said Mr. Hardman. “ I am not unreason- 
able, as any one who works for me will tell you, 
and I try to pay good wages and not overwork 
any one. I like to have an understanding about 
matters though at first, and then we each know 
what to expect. I ’ll see you to-morrow then at 
eight o’clock sharp.” 

“Yes,” Louise answered. 

“ Good night,” he said, as he rose to go. “ I 
hope you will be comfortable here. Do n’t think 
that I have n’t any sympathy for you, if I have 
told you pretty plainly what I expect. I would n’t 
like to leave my daughters to look out for them- 
selves, though plenty of girls have to do it, and 
I know it seems mighty hard to you just now, 
coming so suddenly. I ’ve often heard about 
your father, and I know he was a good man and 


142 


SILVER BOWLS. 


has left a clean name to his family, and that ’s 
not what every man does in these days. Good 
night.” 

Louise could not answer him, for every ref- 
erence to her father made such a lump rise in 
her throat that speech was impossible. When 
she had closed the door after him she was glad 
to seek the refuge of her own room again. Mal- 
lie had intended to waylay her, as her mother 
was very anxious to see “ the boarder,” as they 
spoke of Louise, but the closing of the door 
was the first intimation they had that she had 
gone up stairs, her footstep was so light. 

You never take any pains to do what I 
want you to,” complained Mrs. Norris. “ I should 
think you might have a little sympathy for me, 
lying here and not being able to get about and 
see anything at all, but you do n’t care. I do n’t 
believe a mother ever had such thoughtless 
children before as I have. Neither you nor 
Tom ever try to pass away the time for me. 
Some daughters now would sit down and read 
to their mother, but you never do it.” 

Nonsense, mother !” exploded Mallie. 
“ When do I ever get time to read to you, or to 
myself either ? It ’s work, work, work, all day, 
from the moment I open my eyes till I get into 
bed at night, and I ’m sure I do my best for you. 
I ’m always running in here to wait on you.” 


GETTING SETTLED. 


143 


‘‘ I never expected that from you, Malvina 
Norris,” complained her mother in tearful ac- 
cents. Little did I ever expect to hear my 
own daughter grudge the little she does for me. 
I ’ll go to a hospital if you think that I ’m such 
a care. You need never lift your finger again 
for me if you are going to throw it at me that 
way.” 

“ I wish you could be a little reasonable 
sometimes, mother,” said Mallie. “ I was not 
throwing anything I do for you at you. I am 
willing to wait on you, and I do n’t complain 
about it, but when you say I do n’t read to you, 
I want you to know it’s because I don’t have 
time. It ’s a pity that with all I do I can never 
suit anybody !” 

“Well, I think you might have brought Miss 
Rushton in here,” her mother went on, holding 
fast to her original cause of complaint. 

“ Could I drag her in when she wanted to go 
up stairs?” demanded Mallie. “You do fuss 
so about everything, mother, and you wont wait 
a minute for anything you want. The next 
time she comes down stairs I ’1 bring her in here 
to see you, but I do n’t believe she will be down 
again to-night. Her room looks awful pretty, for 
she has unpacked her trunk and got it all fixed 
up with pretty things.” 

“ What has she got ?” asked Mrs. Norris ; 


144 SILVER BOWLS. 

and when Mallie described as well as she could 
the ornaments of which she had caught a 
glimpse when the door opened, the invalid for- 
got to complain and fret for a little while, as 
she listened. 

An invalid’s life and interests are apt to 
grow exceedingly circumscribed and narrow 
unless great care is exercised that she shall 
be shut in only in body, and not in mind and 
heart. Perhaps Mrs. Norris merited pity and 
sympathy more than censure for the irritability 
that made her a trying invalid to care for. Her 
circle of interests had always been a very small 
one, bounded by her own affairs and the little 
glimpses that she got into other people’s lives, 
and she had no storehouse of pleasant memories 
to draw upon. Shut up in one room as she 
was now, with nothing to read, and but few 
acquaintances who kept up sufficient interest in 
her to come in and bring news from the outside 
world to the invalid, she became more narrow 
than ever in her interests, and fretted and com- 
plained until a far more patient daughter than 
Mallie might have felt her nerves and temper 
giving out. Mrs. Norris had nothing to bright- 
en her life nor open a wider field of interest, 
and though she might have touched the outside 
world at many points, neither she nor Mallie 
had the skill and knowledge to make the neces- 


GETTING SETTLED. 


145 


sary connection with the current of mutual sym- 
pathy and helpfulness that flows like an electric 
current into the lives of so many who belong- to 
the great “ shut-in ” class. 

Louise had not been sufficiently interested 
in the family into whose home she had come to 
care who composed it, and she had no idea of 
the great disappointment her non-appearance 
caused to the invalid. She was too unhappy her- 
self to care about trying to make any one else 
happy, but if she had known how much hap- 
pier the few words she had said to Mallie about 
her tea had made the girl feel, she would have 
felt a little throb of pleasure even in the midst 
of her loneliness and bereavement. 

When she knelt to offer her evening prayers, 
the flood-gates of her grief were opened again, 
and she cried bitterly. It was so hard ! Alone 
among strangers, with no friend to care for her, 
she felt desolate enough. Heaven seemed far- 
ther away than it had ever seemed at home, 
and she could hardly realize that she was no far- 
ther away from the infinite love and tenderness 
that were as close to her now in the shadow as 
they had been in the sunlight. 


Silver 10 


146 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

BEGINNING WORK. 

Promptly at seven o’clock the next morn- 
ing Mallie knocked at Louise’s door and 
awakened her. She had been too tired to lie 
awake very long the night before, but she 
jumped up as soon as she was called, and began 
to dress. This was the first day of her life as a 
business woman, and she determined that she 
would begin by being punctual. The room 
was comfortably heated by a pipe passing up 
from a stove in the room below, so Louise did 
not have the discomfort of a cold room that 
she might have had in many another house. 

She had time to dress, read her Bible, and 
offer her prayers before the bell rang for break- 
fast. 

“ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy might,” was the verse that 'she carried 
in her heart as a watchword for the day. When 
she came down stairs Mallie said shyly, 

“ My mother is an invalid. Miss Rushton, 
and she has to stay in bed in her room all the 
time, but she said she would like to make your 
acquaintance, if you would step in a moment.” 


BEIGNNING WORK. I47 

Certainly,” said Louise, and she followed 
Mallie into Mrs. Norris’ room. 

“ This is Miss Rushton, mother,” said Mallie, 
feeling rather overwhelmed at having to perform 
the ceremony of introduction. 

“ I ’m pleased to make your acquaintance,” 
said Mrs. Norris, taking advantage to the utter- 
most of her opportunity to look at Louise. “ I 
hope you will be real sociable and come in and 
sit with me sometimes, for I get dreadful lonely.” 

“ I do n’t think that I shall have very much 
time,” said Louise, thinking that the last thing 
that she would feel like doing with her few 
hours of leisure would be to pass them in this 
sick-room with this uninteresting-looking wo- 
man. If she did have to live with people who 
were wholly uncongenial to her, she need not 
have anything more to do with them than was 
absolutely necessary, that was one comfort. She 
would not encourage Mrs. Norris to think that 
she intended to favor her with her company 
when she was in the house. 

Mrs. Norris looked rather disappointed, and 
might have said something more about her 
loneliness, had not Mallie interposed, 

“ Miss Rushton had better come and get her 
breakfast now. She hasn’t any too much time 
to get to the store.” 

Lousie was very glad to make her escape 


148 


SILVER BOWLS. 


without promising any further visits, and she 
went out to the breakfast, which was put on the 
table in the sitting-room for her as it had been 
last night. A small, well-made omelet, rolls, and 
coffee, which if not as good as Louise had been 
accustomed to, were at least far better than any 
she would have had placed before her in any of 
the boarding-houses in the place, made a very 
good breakfast ; and as Louise was really hungry 
by this morning, and felt more cheerful after a 
night’s rest, she ate enough to please Mallie, 
who hovered about, ready to wait on her if she 
should want anything. 

“ Did you ever work anywhere before ?” she 
asked as Louise finished her breakfast, with her 
eyes on the clock lest she should spend too much 
time over it. 

‘‘No,” answered Louise. 

“ My ! it must be awful nice to earn so much 
money,” said Mallie with a little sigh of envy. 
“ I would give anything in the world if I could 
get such a place ; but of course I could n’t, for I 
could n’t do anything that would take me away 
from mother in the daytime for one thing. I am 
not quick enough at figures for another thing, 
for I never had very much chance at school.” 

Louise thought her lot such a hard one that 
she was surprised at the idea of any one envying 
her, and she answered. 


BEGINNING WORK. 


149 


“ I wish we could change places, and I could 
stay at home and take care of my mother, and 
you could take my place in the store.” 

“ I ’d give anything to earn so much,” repeat- 
ed Mallie with a wistful face. 

“ I suppose I ought to be thankful for the 
place when we need money so much,” thought 
Louise as she walked rapidly towards the store, 
“but I must say that I think a place like this 
would suit Miss Norris a great deal better than 
it will suit me. I do n’t envy her having to take 
care of that cross-looking woman though.” 

Louise was a few minutes early and had to 
wait for Mr. Hardman to come and show her 
where her desk was and what her duties were to 
be. The old cashier was to stay till noon, to show 
Louise anything that might perplex her at first, 
so that she might not become confused. 

“ I ’m glad to see you are oh time,” said Mr. 
Hardman. “Punctuality is one of the first rules 
of a good business man or woman. Now don’t 
be discouraged if you can’t work as fast as Nora 
when the morning rush begins. She has been 
at it five years, you know, so her hand is in. If 
you ’re quick at figures you will soon get along 
all right.” 

It did not seem like hard work at first to 
make change for the sales and slip the checks 
on a hook, but when customers began to come 


SILVER BOWLS. 


150 

in a steady stream as they did later in the morn- 
ing, and it was necessary to make change rap- 
idly, so as not to keep the cash-boys waiting, 
Louise soon found out that her work would not 
be mere child’s play. When she had first seated 
herself beside the former cashier, and had glanced 
at her frizzled hair and cheap jewelry, Louise had 
rather loftily decided that such a frivolous-look- 
ing girl could scarcely be very capable even in 
the small matter of making change, and she 
wondered what kind of a man it was that wanted 
to make her his wife. She changed her opinion 
about the girl’s capability, however, when she 
saw how rapidly she could make change, and 
how little disturbed she was at the rush that 
made Louise feel completely bewildered. To be 
sure she had five years’ advantage of Louise irt 
experience, but even taking that fact into consid- 
eration, she must be quick and capable. Louise 
was quite discouraged by noon, and began to 
think that the place would be too much for her, 
but her companion reassured her : 

“ Now don’t you go to feeling that you wont 
ever be quick enough, for you ’ll get along all 
right in a few days. I just cried the first two 
days I was here, and I was sure that I never 
would be able to be quick enough, for when the 
boys all got to coming in a rush I would get so 
scared that I could n’t take two cents from five 


BEGINNING WORK. 


151 

cents without having to stop and count up on 
my fingers ; but laws ! I soon got all over that, 
and now I do n’t mind how fast the checks come 
rushing in. I rather enjoy a rush, for it ’s a sort 
of pleasant excitement, and it would be stupid 
enough in here without some variety. You ’ll do 
all right. I was a good deal more rattled than 
you are, so I know. I ’ll tell you what I will do : 
I will stay till the afternoon rush is over, and to- 
morrow I will come over for a couple of hours 
in the busy time just to help you through, and 
after that you will get on all right by yourself. 
Make the boys wait, if you get confused, till you 
straighten things out. It don’t hurt the cus- 
tomers to wait a little. Of course Mr. Hardman 
likes to have the change made quickly, but he 
wont be hard on you if you can’t do it right off. 
He ’s a nice man to work for, take him year in and 
year out, though he may talk a little rough some- 
times. If you don’t try to shirk you will get 
along all right with him. Don’t get discour- 
aged.” 

If any one had told Louise when she first 
came to the store that morning that she would 
feel real gratitude to the frizzled, bejewelled girl 
who appeared like such a shallow piece of vanity, 
she could hardly have believed it ; but she was 
surprised to find how the kind words kept her 
from absolute discouragement as she walked 


152 


SILVER BOWLS. 


home to get her dinner. She was boarding so 
near the store that she had time in the half-hour 
that was allotted to her to go to the house for 
her dinner instead of bringing a cold lunch, as 
many of the other employees did. She was very 
grateful for the promised help, and it was a piece 
of real kindness on the part of the girl to proffer 
it, for she had a great many of her own interests 
to attend to in the few days before her wedding, 
and there was a good deal of self-denial involved 
in taking any of her time to help the new cashier 
get started. It was the m_ore kind because Louise 
had not taken any pains to be pleasant to her, 
and had not cared whether or not she noticed 
that she did not want to have any more than was 
absolutely necessary to do with her. 

Louise was ready for her dinner, which was 
as good as the other meals had been, and Mallie 
had it all ready for her. Her room had been put 
in the neatest of order, and there was nothing 
left undone that could be done for her comfort. 
Tom kept himself out of sight when the boarder 
was there, and Mrs. Norris of course did not 
leave her room, so Louise felt that she could be 
alone as much as she wished without appearing 
rude. 

She would have been amazed if she could 
have known the feelings in Mallie’s heart as she 
sat by the wdndow with one eye on the table, 


BEGINNING WORK. 


153 


ready to wait on Louise. It had been a long time 
since Mallie had had any girl friends, and when 
she went to school her irritable manners had not 
attracted many girls towards her, so her friends 
had been few and not particularly well chosen. 

Louise seemed to her the embodiment of all 
that was ladylike and refined, and poor Mallie 
felt almost as if she belonged to another race of 
beings. Her voice was neither sharp nor fretful, 
and in speaking to her Mallie tried to modulate 
her own tones. Everything about Louise at- 
tracted her, and she felt all her own imperfec- 
tions more keenly in contrast with this girl 
whom she admired so much. All the affection 
that had been thwarted and repressed for lack 
of an object to call it forth turned towards Louise, 
and though she had not known her for twenty- 
four hours, Mallie v/ould have been glad to do 
anything that would please or win a smile from 
her. Such impulsive bestowals of affection are 
characteristic of a period of girlhood which Mal- 
lie had outgrown by some years, but as she had 
passed through that period without any such 
sudden growth of love, it surprised even herself 
to realize her feelings. 

Louise did not once think of the girl who sat 
watching her with such eager eyes. She was 
intent upon eating her dinner quickly enough to 
get back to the store in time, and she was won- 


154 


SILVER BOWLS. 


dering whether she would get as confused that 
afternoon as she had been in the morning. 

“ Was everything the way you like it ?” asked 
Mallie, as Louise rose from the table and hastily 
put on her hat again. 

“Yes, it was very nice, thank you,” Louise 
answered, and then she hurried back to her place 
again. 

The afternoon was no easier than the morning 
had been, and the unaccustomed strain, and the 
fear that she might not be able to be quick 
enough in making change to keep her place, 
which seemed more desirable to her now that 
there was a possible danger of her losing it, made 
Louise’s head throb with pain. She was com- 
pletely discouraged when she went back to the 
room which she must call home now. She for- 
got that the first day v/ould naturally be harder 
for her than any of the following ones, and that 
facility would come with practice, as it does in 
any employment. She felt a depressing sense of 
incapacity and helplessness which was harder to 
bear than her fatigue, and if she had yielded to 
her feelings she would have told Mr. Hardman 
that she might as well give up the place, as it was 
too hard for her. 

What was to become of her if she could not 
do so simple a thing as make change in a dry 
goods store ? What was there that she was fitted 


BEGINNING WORK. 


55 


for and by which she could earn her living ? It 
was so imperatively necessary that she should 
help, and she seemed to be too useless to be able 
to render any services which were worth an 
equivalent in money. She was very tired, phy- 
sically and mentally, and as she leaned her head 
upon her hand, trying to eat her supper, Mallie 
watched her with pitying eyes. 

She made one or two feeble efforts to enter 
into conversation with Louise, but met with 
so little response that she did not persevere. 
Louise was too tired to talk, and besides she did 
not feel that there was any necessity laid upon 
her to be entertaining when her boarding here 
was merely a business transaction, and so she 
did not speak unless it was necessary. That she 
might have some message as a King’s daughter 
to carry to this other one of his children did not 
at that time enter her thoughts. 


156 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XV. 

PROGRESS. 

When Louise opened her eyes the next 
morning she heard a sleety rain driving against 
the windows, the very last sound that she would 
have expected to find herself welcoming. With 
the sound of the rain, the thought flashed into 
her mind that the weather would keep people 
from coming to the store in such numbers as 
they did on the day before, and so she would be 
able to get along better in her work. She awoke 
rested by a good night’s sleep, and so did not 
feel as despondent as when she came home the 
previous evening. If her predecessor had 
learned, surely she would too, in time, and Mr. 
Hardman had said that he would not expect her 
to master her new occupation at once. The next 
day would be Sunday, and then she would have a 
chance to get rested and try to get used to her 
new surroundings. She began the day more 
hopefully than she v/ould have deemed possible 
the night before, and had a pleasant smile for 
Mallie v/hen she bade her good morning that 
delighted the girl. 

The morning passed without any rush of 
customers, for the bad weather kept all at home 


PROGRESS. 


157 


except those who were obliged to be out, and so 
Louise had no difficulty in her work. She began 
to think that it might not take so very long after 
all to get used to it, and though it was not espe- 
cially pleasant work, yet she realized that there 
might be many harder occupations in the world, 
for which she might not be as well paid. 

She was glad when the day was over, and she 
could go home feeling that a whole day would 
intervene before she need go back to her desk 
again. Except that it would be a day of rest, 
she did not look forward with any special antici- 
pation to Sunday. At home it had always been 
a delightful day, one marked by interesting 
services at the church, in some of which she took 
a share, and at her aunt’s it had always been 
a particularly pleasant day ; but she hardly felt 
as if she wanted to go to church, otherwise than 
from a sense of duty, where she would be among 
strangers. She knew that her own pastor had 
written to the pastor here and commended her 
to his care, but still he was a stranger, and the 
people in the church were all strangers, so she 
shrank from going among them in her loneli- 
ness and sorrow. 

Mallie was looking forward to the day eager- 
ly, for she thought that as Louise would be at 
home all day, she would see more of her than 
she had done hitherto. 


158 


SILVER BOWLS. 


There was little about Mallie to make 
Louise feel at all disposed to be sociable with 
her. She was very different from all the girls 
with whom Louise had ever been brought in 
contact, and it hardly seemed possible that there 
could be one point of mutual sympathy between 
them. Louise looked upon her relations with 
Mallie as purely business relations, and she did 
not intend to cultivate her acquaintance any 
more than was absolutely necessary. She was 
secretly glad that Mrs. Norris was confined to 
her room, for she fancied that if she was around 
the house she might insist upon being sociable, 
whether Louise wished it or not. Tom she had 
only caught glimpses of now and then since 
he brought her home from the station, but she 
was quite sure that she would not like him upon 
closer acquaintance. In short, Louise felt as if 
she was decidedly superior to the family with 
whom she was boarding, and she hoped that 
they would recognize the fact too, so that they 
would not attempt to force their society upon 
her. 

Mallie had taken even greater pains than 
usual with the Sunday morning breakfast, and 
she was very much disappointed that Louise 
partook but sparingly of it. There was some- 
thing about the day with its associations that 
made Louise feel the greatness of her loss more 


PROGRESS. 


159 


than on other days when she was so busy that 
she had but little time to think, and she was so 
full of longing for her father and her home that 
it seemed as if every mouthful would choke her. 

Do n’t you want to sit down stairs a little 
while ?” asked Mallie shyly as Louise rose from 
the table. “ I should think you would be lonely 
staying up in your room so much.” 

No, I am not lonely,” Louise tried to say, 
but she could barely control her voice, and she 
turned away and went up stairs hastily lest the 
tears should come. She did not want sympathy 
or sociability from this family, and she would 
not encourage it. 

She indulged herself in a good cry, when she 
reached the seclusion of her room, and it re- 
lieved her to let her feelings have their way for 
a little while. She glanced at her watch and 
saw that it was half-past nine, and she knew 
that if she intended to go to church she must try 
to compose herself and let the traces of her 
grief disappear. She did not feel like going, 
but she had all her life been accustomed to be in 
her place at church every Sunday morning un- 
less ill-health prevented, and so she could not 
bring herself to deliberately resolve to stay at 
home to-day. She could fancy what they were 
doing at home, how they were perhaps talking 
about her even then, and wishing that she might 


l6o SILVER BOWLS. 

be with them, and the very thought brought the 
quick tears back again. She must not let herself 
think of home if she meant to regain her compo- 
sure. So she washed away all traces of her 
tears, and taking her Bible sat down to read till 
it was time to dress for church. When the bell 
was ringing its first summons she rose and pre- 
pared herself, and was ready in good time. She 
knew the service was at half-past ten, because 
the first bell had begun to ring at ten, and she 
could see the church from her window, so she 
would not have to ask the way. She did not 
want to have occasion to say anything to Mallie 
about going to church lest the latter should offer 
to go with her, and that was the last thing that 
Louise desired. 

Just as the bell began to sound its second 
summons she started, and Mallie, who had been 
watching for her in the hope that she might feel 
disposed to come down stairs and have a little 
chat, was disappointed to see her pass the sitting- 
room door with her hat and coat on, evidently 
bound for church. 

“ I would have gone too, if I had supposed 
she was going,” thought Mallie regretfully. 

It had been some months since Mallie had 
gone to church. If you had asked her the rea- 
son, she would probably have said that she had 
got out of the way of it.” There had been a few 


PROGRESS. 


6l 


Sundays when her mother was first taken ill 
that she could not have left her, but after that 
there was no special reason except that the habit, 
which was the only hold that church-going had 
upon Mallie, was broken, and she did not have 
enough interest in the services nor in the pas- 
tor to form it again. 

Nothing is easier than to let first one trifling 
reason and then another keep one at home from 
church, and in the majority of cases it is not that 
non-church-going people have deliberately made 
up their minds to stay home from church, but 
that they have not made up their minds to go. 
Mallie had not given up her attendance at 
church with the full purpose of not going again. 
Every Sunday when, she heard the bells ringing 
she thought to herself that perhaps she would 
feel like going “next Sunday.” She did not 
know that she had reached a point where the in- 
clination would need strong cultivation before it 
could be developed into action. It was rather a 
comforting thought to her that she was a church- 
member, even though the fact did not alter her 
daily life in the least. Perhaps she was the 
more comfortable in her irreligious life because 
she did not know what a Christian’s life should 
be. When Mallie had united with the church, 
during a time of special religious interest, she 
had hoped that she loved the Lord and really 


Silver nowls. 1 1 


SILVER BOWLS. 


162 

wanted to be bis child ; and she had realized 
that this step ought to make some difference in 
her life, but just what this difference should be 
she did not know. 

Just as the delicate tendril of a vine would 
wave about in the summer air, looking for some 
support to cling to and by which it might climb, 
so she had felt about in a feeble, uncertain way 
for guidance. It had been a disappointment to 
find that the Bible did not seem to be any help 
to her. Poor little hungry disciple, she would 
take it up and read a few verses at random, not 
understanding what she read nor knowing 
where to look for instruction and help. 

The Bible is a wonderful book, but a few 
verses of hkstory or prophecy, read disconnected- 
ly, without understanding, will not be a light to 
one who has little or no knowledge of the path 
wherein he should walk ; and there was no one 
to tell Mallie what she should read and how she 
should read, to really find out the beauties of the 
Bible. She w’ould have been very glad if some 
one had said to her, “Now that you are a Chris- 
tian, you must begin to work for Christ. Here 
is something for you to do.” 

She did have a faint desire to enter into 
some good work, but she was too self-distrustful 
to offer herself, and she had never been taught 
to watch for the little opportunities that lie 


PROGRESS. 


163 

along life’s pathway. Gradually her desires to 
lead a different life had all died out, and she 
was quite satisfied with being a nominal Chris- 
tian, having nothing but leaves to show, which 
grew less and less instead of multiplying. A 
foriiial prayer which she murmured every night 
before she went to bed, and which came only 
from her lips, was all that made her life any 
different from an openly irreligious one. Now 
■that she had given up attendance at church, 
there seemed but little hope that anything 
would have a chance to quicken her dormant 
spiritual life into a flame. If her pavStor had un- 
-derstood the state of things, of course he would 
have seen to it that this lamb of his flock had 
food that would nourish her; but he did not 
know the circumstances of her home-life — that 
she had no help at all from her mother, indeed 
only a hindrance in querulous reminders that 
if she was a church member now, she need n’t 
be so awful snappy. Folks who set themselves 
up to be better than other people ought to live 
up to it.” Such a remark would hardly conduce 
to the spiritual growth of a veritable saint, so it 
was not strange that poor Mallie would return 
an angry retort to this taunt, and sometimes 
wish that she had not given any occasion for it. 

Those who have grown up in Christian 
homes, with every good influence about them. 


164 


SILVER BOWLS. 


and with careful training in regard to their obli- 
gations as Christians, often find it almost impos- 
sible to realize how very plain the path ought to 
be made for the feet of young Christians who 
have no help at home. They are literally 
“babes in Christ,” and need to be carefully 
nourished with food adapted to their needs. 
Mallie knew little more about how to live a 
truly Christian life than if she were a child 
of three or four years old. Indeed it might 
have been easier for such a child, for the simple 
trying to please Jesus would have been enough 
to guide the little feet. 

It would have been a perfect revelation to 
Mallie to have been told that religion was not a 
thing that belonged to the pulpit and to Sun- 
day, to be hung away with one’s best dress in 
the wardrobe till the bell rang for church next 
Sunday. She had actually never known a Chris- 
tian who carried religion into every-day life. 
She had known plenty of nominal church-mem- 
bers, who as far as she knew lived very much 
the same life as she did herself, but she had not 
the faintest conception of what a life “ hid with 
Christ in God ” might be. 

Louise fully intended to go to church when 
she came down stairs and opened the front 
door, but her courage failed her at the last mo- 
ment. If it had been church at home, where 


PROGRESS. 


165 

there would have been kind faces all about her 
and friendly hand-clasps to welcome her to the 
service, she would have wanted to go, but lonely 
and homesick as she was, it seemed perfectly 
impossible to go among strangers, and she for- 
got that she ought not to feel as if those who 
loved the same Master that she did were stran- 
gers. 

A flood of tears rushed to her eyes and a 
low sob broke from her in spite of her efforts 
at self-control. Shutting the door she turned 
and went hastily up to her room again to give 
way to her homesickness and grief to her 
heart’s content. Mallie did not see her pass the 
sitting-room door again, and so she supposed 
when she heard the front door close that Louise 
was on her way to church. 


SILVER BOWLS. 


1 66 


CHAPTER XVI. 

DEVELOPMENTS. 

Tom had given tip spending any of his time 
in the sitting-room since Louise had come, for 
he did not want to meet her more than was 
necessary and he was afraid of encountering her 
there. When he heard the front door shut he 
supposed with Mallie that Louise had gone to 
church, and he prepared to make himself com- 
fortable. Mallie had set the table ready for 
Louise’s dinner, and Tom sat down by it and 
rapped with the handle of the knife. 

Bring me some toast and coffee, and be 
quick about it,” he said mischievously, half in 
fun and half with the intention of “ raising ” 
Mallie, as he expressed it. He succeeded in this 
latter intention, as usual. 

“ Now, Tom, just get right up and let that 
table alone !” Mallie exclaimed. “ I do n’t want 
things all upset when I get them fixed.” 

Who’s upsetting anything?” asked Tom. 

Look here, I do n’t allow waiters to talk back 
to me that way. Just bring me that order 
quick, and do n’t talk so much.” 

“ Get up and go away from that table,” Mal- 
lie persisted, taking no notice of what he had 


DEVELOPMENTS. 


167 


said. “ I have enough to do to get my work 
done once v/ithout having it all to do over again. 
You ’re a perfect nuisance, Tom;” 

“ The same to you,” answered Tom, with 
mock courtesy. “ I could n’t think of getting 
up, thank you, ma’am ; I am too comfortable. I 
like style, and I get so precious little of it at my 
meals that I ’m willing to take your boarder’s 
leavings. I wish you would give me some of 
the good meals that you get up for her.” 

“ I should like to see myself !” exclaimed 
Mallie scornfully. “ You do n’t earn a mouthful 
you eat, and if I was a boy I ’d be ashamed to 
hang around the house and let a girl earn all 
the money.” 

That ’s all that girls are good for,” Tom re- 
torted. “ They ’re only good for what you . can 
get out of them. What ’s the use in my work- 
ing as long as I can get along without it ? I 
might as well take things easy as anybody else.” 

“Yes, you do n’t care about anybody but 
yourself,” Mallie cried angrily. “ 1 might 
work my fingers to the bone, and you wouldn’t 
care as long as you had enough to eat and some 
one to wait on you. You are just as lazy and 
selfish as you can be.” 

“ Halloa ! Watch the thermometer going up,” 
said Tom teasingly. “ Just look in the glass, 
Mallie, and see your face getting red. If you 


i6S 


SILVER BOWLS. 


only knew how nice you look when you ’re in a 
temper I think you would try to keep cool. 
Do n’t I wish your fine lady boarder could see 
you now ! Oh yes, you try to make her think 
that butter would n’t melt in your mouth ; but 
if she could just see you once in a tantrum, she 
would think differently, I can tell you. Oh but 
you look black just now! Mad, madder, mad- 
dest — that ’s what you will be in a minute.” 

It is not worth while to record the rest of 
the unhappy wrangle that lasted till Tom got 
tired of it, and losing temper himself went out, 
slamming the door after him with such violence 
that the house shook. From her bedroom the 
mother added to the quarrel by querulous 
complaints and fretful commands, which were 
alike unheeded by her children ; and Louise, 
unwillingly listening to the words, which were 
as easily heard in her room as if she were in the 
midst of the family vStorm, wondered how they 
could utter such bitter words to each other. If 
she had known that they supposed her at church 
and that they were wholly unaware of her pres- 
ence in the house, she would have given them 
some signal of her presence ; but it never oc- 
curred to her that they did not wish her to hear 
them, nor that a stranger’s presence would be 
any restraint upon them, or for her' own sake 
she would have been glad to stop the wrangle 


DEVELOPMENTS. 


169 

by moving about her room so noisily that they 
would have been made aware that she was there. 
It was a very unpleasant revelation of the char- 
acter of the family, and she was more than ever 
repelled from them as she listened to the bitter 
recriminations and unkind taunts. How could 
she ever endure living under the same roof with 
them for months ? If they could talk so to each 
other, perhaps when they began to feel better 
acquainted with her they might even say un- 
kind things to her. Louise had sometimes lost 
her temper with Fred and indulged in little 
skirmishes with him when he had been in a 
teasing mood and she had not felt inclined to 
stand it ; but to talk to each other as this brother 
and sister did, and keep it up for a whole morn- 
ing, was an unheard-of thing in Louise’s expe- 
rience. If she had been in the midst of a desert 
island, she could not have felt more utterly alone 
than she did in this house, where the inmates 
were so uncongenial in every way. She could 
not endure it, she thought, and surely there 
must be some home in which she could find a 
place where she would not have to listen to such 
quarrelling. 

Louise had determined before she left home 
that she would not worry her mother by ever 
complaining of anything that should seem hard 
in her lot. It had been very hard for her mo- 


SILVER BOWLS. 


170 

ther to yield to the necessity of her daughter’s 
going away among strangers, and Louise knew 
that she would be still more unhappy if she 
thought that her surroundings were unpleasant ; 
so she had bravely determined to record only 
the bright side of everything and keep all 
troubles to herself. 

Before Aunt Belle went away, however, she 
made Louise promise that she would write 
freely to her and tell her all her troubles and 
perplexities, and not try to bear her burdens 
alone. That promise had been a comfort to 
Louise, and now when she felt as if the present 
state of affairs was unendurable, she took out 
her writing-desk, and sitting down, poured out 
all her troubles to her aunt. 

Louise did not usually take Sunday for letter- 
writing, but she wrote just what she would have 
said if she could have nestled down beside her 
aunt and had one of the pleasant chats with her 
that she had enjoyed so often. She tried to be 
fair to Mallie and gave her credit for all that 
was comfortable in her new home, but she was 
so shocked at her bitter speeches to her brother 
that it was hard to say anything kind about 
her. 

She had nearly finished her letter when the 
people began to go past on their way home from 
church, and as Louise looked at them she 


DEVELOPMENTS. 


i;i 


wished that she had gone too, and then these 
very unpleasant developments concerning the 
traits of the Norris family might have been 
spared her. A pleasant odor of cooking came 
up from the kitchen, and she heard Mallie say 
to her mother, 

“ I will bring you in your dinner now, and 
then when Miss Rushton comes home from 
church I can wait on her right away.” 

So Mallie had supposed that she had gone to 
church! Perhaps they would not have quar- 
relled if they had known that she was at home, 
and Louise’s face grew hot at the idea of having 
heard anything that was not intended for her 
ears. 

“I wonder why Miss Rushton don’t come,” 
Mallie said after a while, when the church-goers 
all seemed to have passed and an occasional 
group of Sunday stragglers were all that 
passed. 

Louise knew then that she must let Mallie 
know that she was at home, although she 
shrank from embarrassing the girl by letting 
her become aware that she had heard all that 
had passed that morning. She opened her door 
and stepped out into the hall. 

“ I am up stairs. Miss Norris,” she called. “ I 
will come down to dinner whenever you are 
ready for me.” 


172 


SILVER BOWLS. 


There was a silence so deep and intense that 
Louise knew what consternation her voice must 
have caused, and then in a few moments Mallie 
said in very subdued tones, 

“Any time you like to come down, dinner is 
ready, Miss Rushton.” 

Louise waited for a few minutes to let Mallie 
regain her composure, and then went down to 
her dinner. It was served upon the table, but 
there was no sign of Mallie visible. Every- 
thing that Louise could possibly stand in need 
of was provided : a small pitcher of water that 
she might replenish her glass when it was 
empty, and an apple-turnover which Mallie had 
made for dessert, but it was evident that Mallie 
did not mean to make her appearance if it could 
be helped. 

“ I should think she would be ashamed of 
herself,” thought Louise scornfully, remember- 
ing the sharp voice that had said such bitter 
things. 

To be sure Mallie had had some provocation ; 
Louise admitted that ; but if she was always so 
cross it was no wonder that Tom was rough and 
disagreeable. She ate her dinner, much re- 
lieved at Mallie’s absence, for she did not feel 
as if she could ever speak to her again pleas- 
antly after what she had heard that morning. 

When she had finished her meal she went 


DEVELOPMENTS. 


173 


tip to her room again, as nearly amused as she 
could be in her depressed frame of mind, at the 
silence that had fallen upon the house. She 
might have been the only one in it from all that 
she could see or hear. Mrs. Norris’ door had 
been partly closed, instead of standing open that 
she might catch a glimpse of Louise as she 
passed up and down stairs, and there was not 
even a rustle of the bed-clothing or of a news- 
paper to indicate that she was there. As for 
Mallie, she might have been out of the house, as 
far as any sight or trace of her was visible. 
Only when Louise went up to her room again 
did she hear any sound that let her know that 
Mallie had not gone out. She fancied that she 
heard a stifled sob as she passed the door of the 
small room next to her own, which she knew 
belonged to Mallie, though she most frequently 
slept down stairs with her mother. 

As she took up her pen to go on with her 
writing again she heard the same sound once 
more, and then she had no doubt that Mallie 
was crying in her mortiflcation at being over- 
heard. Louise did not feel as if it was any of 
her business if Mallie chose to spend the after- 
noon in tears, and perhaps unconsciously to her- 
self she felt as if it was only fair, since Mallie 
had made her so very uncomfortable that morn- 
ing by quarrelling so with her brother. She 


SILVER BOWLS. 


1 74 

finished her letter, telling her aunt that she had 
found out that it was not intended that she 
should hear the family fracas, and that Mallie 
had vanished at the sound of her voice, appar- 
ently overcome with mortification. 

Louise folded her letter up, put it into an 
envelope and directed it. The sound of Mallie’s 
sobs still reached her ears, but she did not feel 
her usual desire to comfort any one in trouble. 
In the first place her own troubles seemed so 
great that any other seemed small beside them, 
and then she felt as if Mallie deserved to feel 
bad for giving way to her temper as she had 
done. It had served her right to be overheard 
and it might be a good lesson to her. - But after 
a while a little different feeling began to creep 
into her heart almost against her will. Perhaps 
she ought to go and say something to Mallie to 
comfort her. Even if she was disagreeable and 
not at all the kind of a girl Louise liked, yet she 
did not like to have her so miserable when per- 
haps she could say a few kind words that would 
make her feel better. 

“ But I do n’t want to go,” Louise told her- 
self, trying to put the impulse out of her 
mind. 

‘‘ Well, I suppose I wont be comfortable till I 
do go and try to make the poor thing a little 
easier in her mind,” she said at last, after she 


DEVELOPMENTS. 


175 


had tried in vain to resist the inclination. Step- 
ping out into the hall, she tapped lightly at 
Mallie s door. There was no answer, but the 
sobs ceased. 

Louise did not feel sufficiently acquainted 
with Mallie to persist in knocking when she did 
not meet with a response, but the door was not 
latched and when she knocked it yielded a little 
to her touch. As she stood there it swung a 
little way open and she saw Mallie lying on the 
bed, the very picture of woe. Her hair was 
dishevelled, her face stained and swollen with 
tears, and her attitude one of despair. 

Louise felt as if she could not go away and 
leave her without making at least an attempt to 
comfort her. 

“ May I come in. Miss Norris ?” she said 
gently. 

'‘Oh I shouldn’t think you would want to!” 
groaned Mallie, burrowing deeper into the pil- 
low and hiding her face from Louise. The 
depths of her penitence warmed Louise to a 
kinder feeling than she would have thought 
possible a few minutes ago. She went in and 
sat down on the side of the bed. 

“ I am sorry you are feeling so bad,” she 
said, not knowing exactly what to do, but really 
anxious to comfort Mallie. 

“ I just feel as if I should die !” sobbed Mai- 


SILVER BOWLS. 


176 

lie. '‘I wouldn’t have had you hear me talk- 
ing that way this morning for anything in the 
world. I do n’t know what you must think of 
me. Tom is so aggravating that I get mad and 
say the hatefullest things I can, and we quarrel 
so much that I know it must sound perfectly 
awful to any one that is n’t used to us. I am so 
afraid you will go away now you know how we 
go on. I was sure you were at church or I 
would n’t have said one word back to Tom. I 
never knew any one like you before in all my 
life, and it makes me happy just to look at you. 
I can’t bear to think of your going away. Please 
say you wont. I wont ever say a cross word 
again when you can hear it. I suppose you wont 
believe it, because I have only known you two 
days and a little more, but indeed I would do 
anything in the world for you, I care so much 
for you.” 

Louise was utterly amazed at this declaration 
of affection for her. It was the last thing she 
would have expected to hear, for she supposed 
that Mallie looked upon her merely as a board- 
er from whom she might realize a margin of 
profit — a necessarily small one it must be, Louise 
had reflected, as she noticed what nice meals 
Mallie contrived for her, and she of course sup- 
posed that the rest of the family fared as well. 

She could understand Mallie’s sudden growth 


DEVELOPMENTS. 


177 


of affection, for in her schoolgirl days Louise 
had fallen in ‘love with great precipitation with 
the new teachers, and so it did not seem an im- 
possible thing to her, as it might have done to 
people who had never had any similar experi- 
ences. It did surprise Louise, however, to think 
that she had become the object of such affection, 
and she half smiled as she remembered how she 
herself had put the objects of her love upon a 
pedestal, and had been blind to every imperfec- 
tion that they might have. 

She touched Mallie’s hair gently, as she said, 

“ Do n’t think any more now about my having 
heard what you said. If I had known that you 
thought that I was out, I should have let you 
know I was up stairs. Besides,” and Louise 
hesitated — she did not want to preach, and yet 
she thought that perhaps she ought to say that 
she thought it was wrong to say such bitter 
things — “you know it was not my hearing it 
that you ought to feel so bad about. It is very 
nice in ydu to care anything about me, and you 
need not worry about my going away.” 


Silver Bowls. J 2 


SILVER BOWLS. 


1/8 


CHAPTER XVII . 

A POSTSCRIPT. 

It was not very hard work to comfort Mallie. 
As soon as she knew that Louise would not go 
away on account of the quarrel that morning, 
her fears were set at rest ; and to have Louise 
stroke her hair and show a desire to comfort her 
was enough of happiness to more than make up 
for all her mortification. 

When Louise went back to her room she 
opened her letter and added a postscript, telling 
Aunt Belle of the interview she had just had 
with Mallie. 

“ I wonder what Dora will think of that 
when she hears it,” thought Louise with a faint 
shadow of a smile. “To think that any one 
should be so misguided as to put me on a pedes- 
tal and admire me ! I ’m lonely enough to be 
glad to have even that girl care for me, though 
I could n’t promise to return her affection. Per- 
haps with such a mother I should be just like 
her, or a good deal worse. It must make a good 
deal of difference what one’s mother is like. 
With such a mother as I have, a girl ought to be 
a great deal better than I am. I wish I had 
gone to church this morning. It will be dread- 


A POSTSCRIPT. 


179 

fully hard the first time of course ; but I might 
as well have gone, and then the next time would 
be easier. I wonder if the Norrises ever go to 
church anywhere. I must ask when I go down 
stairs to tea.” 

The long afternoon wore slowly away, and 
it was hard work for Louise not to give up to 
another flood of tears, which threatened to come 
with very little provocation. She had not re- 
alized how hard it would be to be separated from 
her dear ones on Sunday, and over and over 
again she wished that there was no necessity of 
her remaining, but that she might pack up 
her trunk and go home in the morning, instead 
of facing months before her of this enforced 
exile. 

When she went down to tea, Mallie waited 
upon her in a very subdued state of mind, though 
she was evidently much happier than she had 
been that afternoon. There was evidently an 
uncomfortable consciousness in her mind that 
Louise had heard what she had said, and al- 
though it had been condoned, yet she was very 
much ashamed of it. Mrs. Norris, too, had felt 
very much annoyed at having let the boarder 
hear how sharp and querulous she could be, and 
she felt disposed to keep very quiet for a time. 
Tom was the only one who did not care. Be- 
yond the fact that she was a stranger, and he 


i8o 


SILVER BOWLS. 


was always shy of strangers, he did not stand in 
awe of Louise ; so if any one was to hear them, 
he was as willing that it should have been Lou- 
ise as any one else. 

Notwithstanding the loving admiration which 
Louise knew now that Mallie entertained for 
her, Louise could not bring herself to be any- 
thing more than barely polite to the girl, for 
there was really nothing attractive about poor 
Mallie, either in her manners or appearance. 
Louise asked her about the church, and found 
out very much to her surprise that Mallie was a 
member of the same church which she herself 
expected to attend. From her evident ignorance 
regarding all the organizations in the church, 
Louise gathered that her membership was but 
little more than a name, and that she was not at 
all interested in any form of church work. 

It was quite true, as Louise admitted to her- 
self, that if Mallie had been very willing to do 
anything, she had but little time to call her own. 
Though she had only been there two days, she 
had seen how Mallie had to keep steadily at 
work from morning till night to get one day’s 
duties accomplished before the next one’s should 
crowd upon them. 

Louise was ashamed to confess to herself, 
though she knew it was the fact, that the reason 
she did not go that evening was because she was 


A POSTSCRIPT. 


8l 


afraid that Mallie would offer to accompany her, 
and she did not want her company. She went to 
bed after a very short and lonely evening, feel- 
ing dissatisfied with the way she had spent the 
day, and resolving that another Sunday should 
find her in her place at church. 

The next day was a pleasant one, but Mon- 
day was never quite as busy at the store as other 
days, so Louise managed to get along without 
being confused, and as the days passed away she 
found that she need not fear that she would not 
be equal to her task. Mr. Hardman assured her 
that he felt confident that she was going to suit 
him very well, and there was something about 
the plainly-dressed girl, with her quiet, business- 
like ways that gave assurance of attention to her 
work, that was very satisfactory. 

“ If only the work were something different, 
though,” sighed Louise to herself. “ It is so hard 
to do work that is n’t in the least ennobling, and 
that does n’t give one the least chance to be of 
any use to others. To think I grumbled at 
home before I went to Aunt Belle’s because I 
felt as if I was n’t making anything of myself, 
and yet I had a hundred opportunities of being 
useful there! Why, even the housework was 
worth doing because it helped darling mother 
and made father feel easier about her not being 
overworked. Then I had church work to do ; 


82 


SILVER BOWLS, 


not SO very much perhaps, but even the little 
that a ‘ Silver Bowl ’ could do was worth while, 
and here I am just completely stranded. There 
is n’t a bit of a chance for me to do anything but 
just make change all day, go back to the house — 
for I wont even think of it as home — and eat my 
meals and sleep, and of course go to church on 
Sunday. Oh, dear ! It ’s the dreariest kind of a 
life to look forward to, and yet I know I must be 
thankful even to have this work to do so that I 
can earn some money and help mother. It would 
be harder of course not to be able to help and 
have to stay at home idle. But it ’s discouraging 
to give up all hope of usefulness. I know I am 
not like Christie or Aunt Belle or lots of other 
people whom I know. They would rather do 
good than be happy in any other way. I don’t 
feel quite that way, but yet I do want to be of 
some use in the world, and use whatever gifts I 
have to help people, and I can’t help feeling 
bad about having to wrap them all up in a 
napkin and put them away. Precious few gifts 
I have, and little enough use I could be at the 
best, but I am condemned to uselessness whether 
I will or not now.” 

Many a girl in Louise’s place, feeling as she 
did, would have fallen into a state of depression 
which might have affected her health and would 
have unfitted her for her work ; but Louise, with 


A POSTSCRIPT. 


183 


her sunny temperament, her vigorous health, 
her youth, and her power of reacting from her 
most dreary moods, could not be wholly sorrow- 
ful. Almost in spite of herself, she became- in- 
terested to a certain extent in her work, and 
began to take a pride in her growing quickness 
and capability. She held herself aloof from the 
other girls in the store, because she felt herself 
above them ; but she was too sweet-tempered to 
do it in a way that would lead them to suspect 
her reason for declining their society. They at- 
tributed her reserve, and her refusal of invita- 
tions to come and call upon them in the even- 
ings, to her being in mourning for a near rela- 
tive, and so did not resent it, as they would most 
certainly have done if they had guessed at her 
real feelings. 

Perhaps they were a little shy of her, for 
they had heard that it was the first time that she 
had ever done anything for her living, and the 
report had gradually crept through the store, 
added to by each one who repeated it, that she 
had always had all the money she wanted, had 
been brought up in every luxury, and had never 
known what it was to wait upon herself. While 
there was doubtless the secret satisfaction that 
people generally feel at the loss of that which 
they thought had placed her so far above them 
in outward circumstances, they were not without 


SILVER BOWLS. 


184 

sympathy for her, and the fact that she made no 
allusion to her hardship in having to work, and 
never complained of reduced circumstances or 
tried to “ put on airs,” gave them a great deal of 
respect for her and a certain influence among 
them that she was quite unconscious of being 
able to exert. 

Very often older people have no idea of the 
strong desire which young Christians have to be 
thoroughly consecrated and useful. Because 
they are Christians as young people should be, 
overflowing with life and eagerness and inno- 
cent merriment, because it is not natural or 
easy for them to speak of their deepest feelings, 
and because many of the deeper experiences that 
only time can bring have not yet become theirs, 
there are those who cannot believe that the 
Christian life in many a young heart is as earn- 
est and sincere as in that of an old saint. 

The self-imposed task which the circle of 
girls at Weston had set themselves of watching 
eagerly to “ doe ye nexte thynge,” the training 
in the same school of usefulness to all with 
whom she came in contact in her aunt’s home, 
had made Louise quick to see the duties that lay 
in her path, and she had not tried to ignore any 
of them, even although they might sometimes 
seem to be distasteful to her. Indeed she had 
been more ready to see little opportunities that 


A POSTSCRIPT. 


185 


lie along the pathway of each one of us than 
many an older person, and had learned to prize 
a chance for usefulness however slight. 

Now that she had been removed from all 
familiar surroundings, she seemed to have lost 
her focus, and was unable to distinguish the op- 
portunities which were surrounding her more 
closely than ever before. They were blurred 
into a confused mass, and instead of trying to 
adjust her vision to this new range, she gave up 
all hope of being of use, and thought that her 
hands had been emptied of all duty but the very 
commonplace one of filling the duties of her 
position as well as she could and helping her 
mother with her earnings. 

She had not realized before how much she 
had enjoyed being useful and helping others. 
As she looked back upon her work in the Sun- 
day-school, the mission-school, and the circle of 
King’s Daughters, of which she had been an ac^ 
tive member, she reproached herself for never 
having half appreciated the joy of service, and 
lamented bitterly over her enforced uselessness, 
as she considered it. The strongest desire of 
her heart was to be thoroughly consecrated, and 
to live nearer than ever to the Lord, since her 
beloved father was for ever in his presence. She 
felt as if she must be years older than the happy, 
light-hearted girl who sat that day by the win- 


SILVER BOWLS. 


1 86 

dow ready for the concert and watched the tele- 
graph-boy coming down the street. She had 
taken the responsibilities of life upon her shoul- 
ders since then, and they had matured her as 
responsibility and sorrow mature every one. 

Towards the close of the week Louise was 
surprised to receive an invitation from one of 
the girls in the store to accompany her to the 
Christian Endeavor meeting the following Sun- 
day evening. Louise caught herself with the 
words upon her tongue, “ Why, are you a mem- 
ber of the Christian Endeavor Society ?” 

Clara Newell was such a harum - scarum, 
thoughtless, noisy girl, that it had never oc- 
curred to Louise to associate her with any seri- 
ous purpose in life, and she was the last one 
from whom she would have expected to receive 
an invitation to go to a religious meeting. If 
there had been any one of the girls with whom 
Louise had felt less inclination to have anything 
to do than another it was this same Clara New- 
ell. Not that there was anything positively ob- 
jectionable about her; but she was so full of 
spirits that her light-heartedness often ran av/ay 
with her and made her outstep the boundaries 
of good taste, and she was so befrizzled and be- 
jewelled that it did not seem possible that she 
could have any more thoughtful views of life 
than a butterfly. 


A POSTSCRIPT. 


87 


Notwithstanding her prejudice against the 
girl, Louise could not for a moment think of de- 
clining so honest and straightforward an invita- 
tion. Clara had come up to the desk at the noon 
hour, when Louise, having returned from dinner ^ 
a few minutes earlier than necessary, was read- 
ing over a letter she had just written to her 
mother, and with an apology for interrupting, 
said pleasantly, 

“ I would be very glad to have you come to 
our Christian Endeavor meeting Sunday even- 
ing, Miss Rushton. I know you are a stranger 
here, and of course you do n’t feel much like go- 
ing anywhere, but we have very nice meetings, 
and you would be very welcome there. I sup- 
pose you have been to Endeavor meetings, 
have n’t you ?” 

“ Oh yes ; I am a member of a Christian 
Endeavor Society,” Louise answered, making an 
effort to be pleasant, for she really appreciated 
the invitation, and respected the girl who was 
in earnest enough to look after strangers and 
see that they were given at least an invitation to 
the meetings. Thank you, I should like to go. 
Will you call for me? What time is it?” 

It is just an hour before the time for even- 
ing church,” Clara answered. “Church is at 
eight, and we have our meeting in the Sunday- 
school room at seven, so we have just time to go 


i8S 


SILVER BOWLS. 


from there into the church, if you would like to 
stay to that too.” 

Louise lost some of her lonely feeling as she 
went back to work again. If there was no other 
thought in sympathy between herself and this 
frivolous butterfly of a girl, there was this one 
strong chord, they were both Christians ; and 
a new feeling of respect for the girl, in spite of 
all that was not attractive about her, found a 
place in Louise’s heart. She did not feel quite 
so desolate at the thought of Sunday now, and 
was surprised to find what a difference Clara’s 
invitation had made in her reluctance to go to a 
strange church. It was with a feeling of pleas- 
urable anticipation that she looked forward to 
going to the meeting. 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. 1 89 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. 

“Are you going to church this morning?” 
asked Mallie wistfully, as she put breakfast upon 
the table for Louise, when she came down stairs 
on Sunday morning. 

“Yes,” Louise answered, knowing as well as 
if Mallie had put it into words how much the 
girl longed for an opportunity to accompany her. 
“ I do n’t want to begin asking her to go with 
me,” she thought impatiently. “ I can’t like her, 
even if she does like me, and it would spoil all 
my comfort in the service to have her sitting by 
me. If she asks me I suppose I shall have to 
say yes, she can go, but I do n’t mean to invite 
her.” 

Mallie was too shy and too afraid of being 
refused to make any request, but she watched 
Louise from the window, when the latter started 
to church, with something very like tears dim- 
ming her black eyes. 

“Oh dear, I’m not wanted anywhere,” she 
thought bitterly. “ I do n’t wonder nobody likes 
me, for I know just how hateful and disagree- 
able I am, but then so are all the rest of us. I 
am not one bit worse than Tom and mother are. 


SILVER BOWLS. 


190 

We are all a hateful lot, and there ’s no use try- 
ing to be any different. I wish I could be pleas- 
ant like Miss Rushton, though.’' 

With her heart full of longings after some- 
thing better than the life which she knew was 
so far from being what it might be, she turned 
away from the window and vented her heart- 
ache and disappointment in a sharp quarrel with 
Tom, who had just been having a battle royal 
with his mother and was all ready for another 
encounter. 

Feeling quite sure that Louise could not hear 
her this time, Mallie made no attempt to control 
her tongue, and finally Tom, who had begun in 
a half-teasing mood, became angry in earnest 
himself, and at last dashed out of the house, as 
was his usual custom when he found it too un- 
comfortable to hold him, and left Mallie to her 
mother’s fretful complaints of all she had to bear 
from her children and to the task of washing up 
the breakfast dishes and preparing the dinner. 

It was even harder than Louise had thought 
it would be to retain her self-control through 
the service. Tears would well up in her eyes, 
notwithstanding her best efforts, as every now 
and then some word from the Bible or some pe- 
tition in the prayer stirred her heart to its in- 
most depths. She was glad when the service 
was over and she could hasten back to her room, 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. I9I 

where she knew she could give way to her grief 
without remark. 

She slipped into the house quietly and went 
up to her room without observation, and threw 
herself upon the bed, where she burst into a 
flood of tears that relieved her overflowing heart. 

A knock at the door aroused her presently, 
and Mallie s voice said, Dinner is ready. Miss 
Rush ton. Shall I put it on the table now ?” 

“ I do n’t care about any dinner, thank you,” 
said Louise. “ Please do n’t wait for me. I would 
rather not eat anything.” 

“Are you sick ?” asked Mallie, in a concerned 
voice. 

“No, but I don’t want any dinner,” Louise 
answered, and her voice faltered so that Mallie 
guessed at the reason of her lack of appetite. 

She went down stairs without saying any 
more, and expended her energies in preparing 
the meal as well as she could upon a small tray. 
If Miss Rush ton did not feel like coming down 
stairs, surely she would eat some dinner if she 
could have it in her own room, Mallie thought, 
and so she carried it up, and knocked softly at 
the door. 

“ What do you want ?” Louise asked, not very 
graciously. 

“Will you please let me come in and put 
something that I have got for you on the little 


192 


SILVER BOWLS. 


stand?” Mallie asked meekly. “I wont bother 
you, but I do want you to have some dinner. 
Mayn’t I please come in ?” 

“ Yes, if you like,” Louise answered, touched 
by the thoughtfulness which she had not ex- 
pected Mallie to manifest, and she heard the girl 
enter the room and put down her tray upon the 
little table by the bed. 

“ I ’m so sorry for you. Miss Rushton,” said 
Mallie shyly. “I can’t tell you how sorry I 
am, and I wish I could do something for you, 
only I know I can’t. I wont bother you, only I 
did want to just say I was sorry,” and she left 
the room before Louise could answer. 

It was partly because she was really hungry, 
although she could not have eaten her meal down 
stairs, and partly because she wanted to show 
her appreciation of Mallie’s kindness, that Louise 
arose, and, drying her eyes, ate the meal prepared 
with such affection. Even although she could 
not feel any friendship for Mallie, yet it was al- 
most insensibly somewhat of a comfort to know 
that some one cared about her well-being and 
was sorry for her grief. 

By the time she had finished her dinner she 
had regained her self-control, and taking the tray 
down stairs, thanked Mallie for her kindness with 
a warmth that delighted her heart. The after- 
noon wore slowly away, and at a quarter of seven 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. I93 

Clara Newell promptly presented herself to es- 
cort Louise to the Christian Endeavor meeting-, 

“ I hope we will have a real good meeting to- 
night, as it is your first one here,” said Clara as 
the two girls walked along together. “We have 
a nice subject and a good leader, so it ought to 
be good.” 

“ What is the subject ?” asked Louise. 

“ The little things of life,” answered Clara. “ I 
like a subject like that, something that one can 
keep thinking about all the week, and that fits 
into things.” 

Louise could hardly conceal her surprise. It 
had never seemed possible to her that a serious 
thought ever found a place in Clara’s brain, and 
as she realized that under all her nonsense there 
was a veil of earnest feeling, she felt ashamed 
of her hasty judgment. 

“I suppose that is just what ever so many 
people have thought about me,” she reflected. 
“I used to be so full of nonsense that I don’t 
believe many people gave me credit for any 
earnestness about anything, and here I have 
been judging Clara in the same way, just be- 
cause her nonsense is a little different from 
mine.” 

That the Christian Endeavor meeting was well 
attended was evident as soon as the two girls 
neared the church, but this was what Louise had 

silver Bowls. 


194 


SILVER BOWLS. 


been accustomed to, for in Weston all the young 
people in the church were enlisted in the En- 
deavor meetings, and it had to be a very import- 
ant matter indeed, one that they could “con- 
scientiously give to their Lord and Master,” that 
kept them away from their place in the meeting. 

Louise had been accustomed to bright, earnest 
meetings, as well, for there is something about 
the resolve to take part and the necessity for do- 
ing so in a limited space of time that makes long 
pauses impossible and fills every moment with 
words that come from the heart. Stranger al- 
though she was, she felt at home as soon as the 
meeting began. The leader was only a boy, about 
Fred’s age, and as he took his place, Louise re- 
membered the first time that her brother had 
led the meeting, and how much effort it had cost 
him. The words of the hymns were familiar, and 
the singing earnest and spirited. That was all 
homelike, too, and Louise forgot the strange 
faces about her and could almost fancy that she 
was back in the dear home church among her 
friends. 

Not particularly gifted or eloquent was the 
young leader, but so full of enthusiasm and ear- 
nestness that all his hearers caught his spirit. 
After the hymn and prayer with which the 
meeting opened he spoke a few words in simple, 
unaffected, almost boyish fashion, telling how 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. I95 

necessary he found it to guard himself against 
yielding to little temptations, which were apt to 
beset him while he was on his guard against 
greater ones ; how much strength he needed for 
doing the little duties of life faithfully and ear- 
nestly, and how much he had been helped by 
one of the thoughts of the last meeting. All 
self-consciousness was absent, and he spoke as 
though no thought of criticism or possible cen- 
soriousness had ever entered his mind. Nor was 
there any reason why it should. They were all 
young Christians together, fitting themselves for 
future usefulness by their readiness to sustain 
their meeting now, and although a tongue might 
now and then falter, or a sentence miss just the 
turn that the speaker intended, yet there was too 
much sympathy among them to allow of any- 
thing but mutual helpfulness. 

I wonder if you would not like to go to that 
meeting with Louise. Not that there was any- 
thing about it to make it different from any of 
the other Endeavor meetings that you might 
enter in almost any of our churches, but just 
that you may learn, if you do not know it al- 
ready, how much of helpfulness there is in a 
meeting of this kind, where each brings a por- 
tion to the feast, and the thought that has been 
an inspiration to one heart will be shared among 
many, and the woven strand of each one’s faith 


SILVER BOWLS. 


196 

and love and prayer will make a cable strong 
enough to keep the young hearts from being 
wrecked upon the rocks of temptation. 

The beautiful Consecration Hymn of Frances 
Ridley Havergal was suggested, and the young 
voices were full of earnestness as they sang it : 

“ Take my life and let it be 
Consecrated, Lord, to thee ; 

Take my hands and let them move 
At the impulse of thy love. 

“ Take my love ; my God, I pour 
At thy feet its treasure store ; 

Take myself, and I will be. 

Ever, only, all for thee.” 

Then followed in rapid succession the 
thoughts each one had brought : 

“ Whether therefore ye eat or drink or what- 
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 

The duty of being always in a good humor 
is so important that I should hardly enumerate 
it among little things; but all else is almost 
valueless without it. It is like the soft balmy 
air and bright sunshine of a summer’s morn, 
which, when we feel and breathe, we think no 
other enjoyment can equal, without which the 
finest landscape wants a charm, and with which 
the dreariest moorland is bright and beautiful. 
Great duties, great kindnesses, lose much of 
their virtue and power to benefit others if not 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. I97 

performed in this spirit, and little duties and 
little kindnesses are indeed nothing without the 
sunshine of good humor' to gild and adorn 
them.” 

“ Lord, for to-morrow and its needs 
I do not pray ; 

Keep me, my God, from stain of sin 
Just for to-day. 

“ Let me both diligently work 
And duly pray ; 

Let me be kind in word and deed 
Just for to-day. 

“ So, for to-morrow and its needs 
I do not pray ; 

But keep me, guide me, love me. Lord, 

Just for to-day.” 

It was Clara’s voice that read these last lines 
earnestly. 

“ I need Thee every hour,” they sang, the 
words fitting themselves into the thought that 
had just been read, and then others took up the 
chain again and added more links. 

“ Neither one day nor one noble deed 
Makes a life that is lovely and grand ; 

But the little things that it patiently takes 
To bear, to do, and to understand.” 

“ The best portion of a good man’s life are his 
little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness 
and of love.” 

“ Serve Him in daily work and earnest living. 

And faith shall lift thee to His sunlit height.” 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“Christianity — if it means anything — means 
sixteen ounces to the pound, three feet to the 
yard, a just weight and a just measure. It 
means honesty in all dealings, purity in all con- 
versation, a charity as broad as the race, un- 
flinching integrity, sympathy, humanity to man, 
loyalty to God.” 

“ Let us pray,” and a young man arose to his 
feet. His voice trembled. It was the first time 
he had led in prayer. 

“Oh God, our Father, we come to thee to 
help us in the little things of life. We can’t do 
anything right without thy help. Give us thy 
grace to lead square, true, clean, Christian lives, 
and bless us all for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” 

What that prayer cost perhaps no one 
guessed, even though the voice was unsteady 
and the face flushed. It meant a grand victory 
over self, and a cross borne gladly for the Mas- 
ter’s sake, by this young disciple. 

“ May it not be a comfort to those of us who 
feel that we have not the mental or the spiritual 
power that others have, to notice that the living 
sacrifice mentioned in Romans, twelfth chapter, 
first verse, is our bodies? Of course that in- 
cludes the mental power, but does it not also 
include the loving, sympathizing glance, the 
kind, encouraging word, the ready errand for 
another, the work of our hands, opportunities 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. I99 

for all of which come oftener in the day than 
for the mental power we are often tempted to 
envy? May we be enabled to offer willingly 
that which we have. For if there be first a 
willing mind, it is accepted according to that a 
man hath and not according to that he hath 
not.” 


“ In all the little things of life, 

Thyself, Lord, may I see ; 

In little and in great alike 
Reveal thy love -to me. 

“ So shall my undivided life 
To Thee, my (Tod, be given ; 

And all this earthly course below 
Be one dear path to heaven.” 

“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do 
good unto all men.” 

“ Look up and not down ; look forward and 
not back ; look out and not in ; and lend a 
hand.” 

“ I ask thee for a thoughtful love. 

Through constant watching wise. 

To meet the glad with joyful smiles, 

And wipe the weeping eyes, 

A heart at leisure from itself 
To soothe and sympathize.” 

“ Enjoy the blessings of this day if God 
sends them, and the evils of it bear patiently 
and sweetly, for this day only is ours ; we are 
dead to yesterday and we are not yet born to 


200 


SILVER BOWLS. 


the morrow. But if we look abroad and bring 
into one day’s thoughts the evil of many, cer- 
tain and uncertain, what will be and what will 
never be, our load will be as intolerable as it is 
unreasonable.” 

“ He that contemneth small things shall fall 
by little and little.” 

Nothing is too little to be ordered by our 
Father; nothing too little in which to see his 
hand ; nothing which touches our souls too 
little to accept from him ; nothing too little to 
be done to him.” 

“Just to let thy Father do 
What he will ; 

Just to know that he is true, 

, And be still ; 

Just to trust Him, this is all ; 

Then the day will surely be 
Peaceful, whatsoe’er befall, 

Bright and blessed, calm and free.” 

“Let us sing 'Something for Jesus,’ re- 
quested some one, and after a single chord the 
sweet voices rang out : 

“ Saviour, thy dying love 
Thou gavest me ; 

Nor should I aught withhold. 

Dear Lord, from thee. 

In love my soul would bow. 

My heart fulfil its vow, 

Some offering bring thee now, 

Something for thee. 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. 201 

“ Give me a faithful heart, 

Likeness to thee, 

That each departing day 
Henceforth may see 
Some vi^ork of love begun. 

Some deed of kindness done. 

Some ’wanderer sought and won, 

Something for thee.” 

“ Look not after great things ; small breath- 
ings, small desires after the Lord, if true and 
pure, are sweet beginnings of life. Take heed 
of despising the day of small things.” 

“ The busy fingers fly, the eyes may see 

Only the glancing needle which they hold, 

But all my life is blossoming inwardly. 

And every breath is like a litany ; 

While through each labor, like a thread of gold. 

Is woven the sweet consciousness of thee.” 

“ Life is hard for many people, and we have 
no right to withhold any look or word or touch 
or act of love which will lighten the load or 
cheer the heart of any fellow-struggler. The 
best use of our life we can make is to live so 
tiiat it shall be a benediction to every one we 
meet.” 

‘‘ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these my brethren^ ye have done 
it unto me.” 

“ Even so the tongue is a little member and 
boasteth great things. Behold how great a mat- 
ter a little fire kindleth.” 


202 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ It is n’t the thing you do, dear, 

It ’s the thing you left undone, 

Which gives you a bit of heartache 
At the setting of the sun. 

The tender word forgotten. 

The letter you did not write, 

The flower you might have sent, dear. 

Are your haunting ghosts to-night. 

“ The little act of kindness. 

So easily out of mind. 

Those chances to be angels 
Which every mortal finds, 

They come in night and silence. 

Each chill, reproachful wraith. 

When hope is faint and flagging 
And a blight has dropped on faith.” 

“ He that is careful in little things rises 
every day a step higher. He who is faithful in 
little things is then entrusted with larger re- 
sponsibilities. It is the units in life that are the 
most important. Look after the little units and 
the great aggregates will be right. Make the 
minutes beautiful, and the hours and the days 
will be radiant.” 

“ But let patience have her perfect work, 
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting 
nothing.” 

“ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are 
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever 
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, 
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. 203 

are of good report, if there be any virtue 
and if there be any praise, think on these 
things.” 

A hymn was given out and they sang again : 

“ Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, 

By the power of grace divine ; 

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope. 

And my will be lost in thine.” 

Be kindly affectioned one to another with 
brotherly love, in honor preferring one an- 
other.” 

Let us pray : O God, our dear Lord f|,nd 
Father, we come unto thee as thy children 
to-night to ask thee to do for us what we can- 
not do for ourselves. We cannot do the very 
smallest of our duties as we should without thy 
help. Grant that we may realize it and come 
to thee every moment of every day for thy help. 
Let us trust only in thy strength and not at all 
in our own. May we live before others as thy 
children, and in all the little things of life live 
as those who profess to love thee should do. 
Help us, dear Father, for thy name’s sake. 
Amen.” 

The leader glanced at his watch. 

'‘We will close with our sentence prayers,” 
he said, and led in the first petition : 

" May thy Spirit go with us all through the 
week that is to come.” 


204 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ Guide us in the way in which thou wouldst 
have us to walk.” 

“ Make us more faithful in the little things 
that are before us.” 

“ Keep us close to thee.” 

“ May we each try to lead some soul nearer 
to the Saviour whom we have found so precious 
to our souls.” 

“ Bless our dear pastor and show us how to 
help him in his work.” 

“ Bless all the meetings of our church and 
give us much to do for thee.” 

“ Remember those that are sick and kept 
from this meeting.” 

“Guard with thy love those who are away 
from their homes and friends.” 

“Give us more entire consecration to thy 
service.” 

“Bless each of us and make us really thy 
children, not in name only but in our lives.” 

“Thou knowest all things; thou knowest 
that we do love thee, dear Father.” 

“We thank thee for all thy mercies to us. 
Give us more grateful hearts.” 

There was a little hush, and then after a soft 
chord from the organ they chanted the Lord’s 
prayer, just as the bells were ringing their last 
summons to the Sunday evening service in the 
church which adjoined the Sunday-school room. 


A CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR MEETING. 205 

As they passed out one and another of the 
young people shook hands with Louise and ex- 
pressed pleasure at seeing her ; and although 
she suspected that they were on the welcoming 
committee and were just doing their duty as 
members of the committee, she found it very 
pleasant nevertheless, and readily promised to 
come every Sunday evening. It was more like 
home than any hour she had spent away from 
Weston. 


2o6 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

OPENING PATHS. 

Mallie was sitting by the window watch- 
ing for Louise to come home. The light in the 
parlor was turned low, for Mallie was too care- 
ful of everything to let oil burn unless' some one 
was using it, but Louise saw the shadow of her 
head against the curtains. 

Clara left her at the door, and as Louise 
went up the steps Mallie opened the front door 
to let her in. 

“ Do n’t you want to come in and sit down 
a little while before you go up to bed ?” she said 
timidly. “ I thought maybe you would be sort 
of lonesome up stairs and would just as soon sit 
down here a little bit." 

Two hours before Louise would have 
promptly declined the invitation, for she did 
not feel the least desire to become any better 
acquainted with Mallie, but the remembrance of 
something she had heard that evening at the 
Christian Endeavor meeting flashed into her 
mind, and altered the words that were already 
upon her tongue into an acceptance which was 
sufliciently cordial to make Mallie happy. 

Life is hard for many people, and we have 


OPENING PATHS. 


207 


no right to withhold any look or word or touch 
or act of love which will lighten the load or cheer 
the heart of any fellow-struggler.” 

Louise had read the words before, but they 
had been almost forgotten until she heard them 
again to-night, and they seemed to fit into the 
needs of the moment so appropriately that she 
could not disregard them. 

Surely if life was hard for any one it was 
for poor Mallie, with her treadmill of house- 
work and waiting upon the fretful invalid, and 
with absolutely nothing to brighten her days. 
Even the little gayeties that fall to the share of 
most girls were altogether withheld from her, 
and she was made older than her years by the 
load of responsibility and care that rested so 
heavily upon her young shoulders. It was no 
wonder that her features had grown sharp and 
hard when all that was tender and loving had 
been so utterly left out of her life. 

Louise was ashamed of her selfishness in be- 
ing unwilling to spend a few minutes with a girl 
who would consider it such a favor, and was so 
willing to do all she could to make Louise’s life 
as pleasant as possible. She had begun to re- 
alize as she heard the other girls talk in the store 
that she might have had much less of comfort 
if she had been obliged to go to one of the 
boarding-houses instead of coming here. 


208 


SILVER BOWLS* 


Yes, I will come in for a little while,” she 
said. “ I am going to bed very soon because I 
want to be up early in the morning and write a 
letter if possible before I go to the store, but 
I will stay here till I am ready to go to bed.” 

“You went to the prayer-meeting that they 
have before church, didn’t you?” Mallie said. 
“ If I had known you wanted to go, I would 
just as lief have taken you.” 

“ Do you belong to the Christian Endeavor 
Society ?” asked Louise. 

“ The what ?” asked Mallie. 

It was very evident that she did not, and had 
moreover never heard of it, so Louise explained 
it to her. 

“ Oh no, I don’t belong to anything,” Mallie 
answered. “ I am a member of the church, but 
sometimes I think I might as well not be, for 
all the good it does me. The minister used 
to come and see me when I could n’t go to 
church after mother was taken sick, but then 
that minister went away, and since this one has 
come I suppose he knows nothing about me, or 
else he do n’t care, I do n’t know which, for he 
has never been to see me. I do n’t care much 
for going to church any more. I never have 
anything good to wear, and I ’m so tired by 
Sunday that I am glad enough to rest what little 
I cam” 


OPENING PATHS. 


20g 


“ I am sure you would enjoy going to the 
Christian Endeavor meeting,” Louise said. 
“ And if you have n’t heard this minister preach, 
you do n’t know what you are missing by stay- 
ing at home. I like him very much indeed.” 

‘‘ Do you always goto church ?” asked Mallie. 

“Yes,” Louise answered. “I didn’t go last 
Sunday, but I hardly remember missing a Sun- 
day before that one. I suppose it is easy to 
get out of the habit of it when any one has so 
much to do as you have, but I think it would 
rest you and be a help to you to go.” 

“ It’s so lonesome to go by one’s self,” Mallie 
said. “You see I don’t know any one to stop 
for me, and I have n’t any friends anyway,” and 
she sighed. It was one of the things over which 
she grieved when she was particularly depressed, 
that she had no girl friend, as every one else 
seemed to have. 

Louise was almost sorry enough for her to 
invite her to go to church with her in future, 
but she held the invitation back, with a rather 
selfish thought of the annoyance it would be to 
her to feel that she could never go without Mal- 
lie, if she once began to accompany her. 

“ I suppose it is n’t as pleasant to go alone,” 
she answered, and then gathering up her wraps 
she rose. 

“ I think I will go to bed now,” she said. 

silver Bowls. 


210 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“Will you please wake me when you get up, if 
you do not hear me stirring ?” 

“ Yes,” Mallie answered. Good night.” 

Good night,” Louise responded, feeling that 
she might have made herself a little more 
agreeable when her company was such an evi- 
dent pleasure to Mallie, but she put aside this 
feeling when she reached her room. “ There is 
no reason under the sun why I should bother 
myself with trying to be sociable and pleasant 
to a girl I do n’t like, and with whom I have not 
an idea in common,” she said to herself. “I 
have enough that is hard without that. I can’t 
have friends that I can care about in this place, 
but at least I need not be familiar with those I 
do n’t like.” 

Mallie looked more disconsolate than ever as 
she drew down the shades and put out the 
light. 

“ It is n’t my fault that I a’ n’t different, 
when I never had any one to show me how,” 
her thoughts ran. I know there is n’t a single 
nice thing about me. I am stupid and homely 
and bad tempered. I do n’t know anything, and 
though I am a church-member, I ’m a very poor 
Christian. But there, what ’s the use in bother- 
ing about it ! If I had folks as nice as the pic- 
tures of Miss Rushton’s folks look, I dare say I 
might be like her.” 


OPENING PATHS. 


21 1 

Tom had not come in, but Tom had a latch- 
key and came in whenever he chose ; and if he 
was questioned about where he had been he 
never vouchsafed any information, so no one 
knew very much about his whereabouts in the 
evening. To tell the truth no one cared either. 
As long as he was not making himself disagree- 
able at home, he might go where he would with- 
out any objection. 

Fortunately Tom had no inclination to as- 
sociate with really bad boys. There was some- 
thing within him that shrank from swearing, 
drinking, or gambling, and he had too much 
pride to degenerate into a corner loafer. He 
was very fond of reading, and when a good book 
came in his way he devoured it quite as eagerly 
as he did the sensational novels which were his 
more frequent mental nourishment. A more im- 
aginative boy might have been injured by them 
to a greater extent that Tom had been. His 
sturdy common sense could distinguish readily 
between the utterly impossible things and 
those which might have happened, and he had 
never thirsted to go West and slaughter Indians, 
as so many of the heroes of these books had done. 
It entertained him to read about their adven- 
tures, but he did not pine to emulate them. 
Altogether there was so much that was lovable 
and good-natured about Tom that it did seem 


212 


SILVER BOWLS. 


particularly hard that he should never have had 
any home help or home love. 

Mallie shut up the house, put a glass of 
water beside her mother’s bed, and the little 
bell where she could ring it if she should want 
anything in the night, and then went to bed. 
She scowled discontentedly at the reflection in 
the glass as she stood before it letting down her 
hair. It was not a pleasant face, to be sure, and 
not one that under any circumstances could 
have had much beauty ; but Mallie did not 
realize how much her disposition had to do 
with the little lines that were writing tales of 
care and fretfulness in her forehead already, 
young as she was. 

“ What do you think any one would ever 
like you for?” she said bitterly, turning away 
with a glimmer of tears in her eyes and blowing 
out the light. Then she knelt down to say her 
prayers. Mallie had no idea of what help and 
comfort she might find in prayer. I could al- 
most say that she did not know what prayer 
was. When she was a little girl she had learned 
to say the Lord’s Prayer and the time-hallowed. 
Now I lay me down to sleep,” every night be- 
fore she went to bed, and as a matter of habit 
she had kept on saying them. Her mother had 
never explained the words to her, and for a long 
time it might just as well have been some gib- 


OPENING PATHS. 


213 


berisli in the form of a charm, as far as the 
words conveyed any impression to Mallie’s child- 
ish mind. As she grew older she understood 
them better, when she thought about them at 
all, which was not often, but even then the 
whole meaning of the words did not dawn 
upon her. Forgive us our debts as we for- 
give our debtors,” she repeated at night, her 
heart full of bitterness against Tom, without a 
thought of what her prayer might mean. The 
Fatherhood of God, which meant so much to 
Louise, was something as unreal to Mallie as if 
she had been a Hottentot and had never come 
within the sound of the gospel. In a general 
way she had heard that God was her Father, 
but the word father brought up a very different 
vision before Mallie’s mind from what it did be- 
fore Louise’s thoughts. 

Mallie’s father had been a stern man who 
had never manifested any love that he might 
have felt for his family, and who was “ not very 
pleasant to have around,” as Mallie would have 
expressed it. If she had been a heathen, brought 
into the family without any previous home- 
training, undoubtedly she would have had the 
love and tenderness of God explained to her so 
that her untaught mind could have grasped it 
clearly ; but it was not a strange thing that the 
young minister, who had grown up with the 


214 


SILVER BOWLS. 


most careful religious training, and the elders of 
the church, who had come to Christ so long ago 
that they had forgotten anything that had puz- 
zled them in their young Christian life, should 
have taken a great deal for granted that might 
far better have been explained to the young 
girl. 

“ Do you pray ?” one of the elders had asked 
her, and Mallie, remembering that she never 
omitted to repeat the form which had been 
taught her in childhood before she went to bed 
at night, replied very earnestly. 

Oh yes.” 

Taking into consideration the fact that Mal- 
lie belonged to a respectable family, and had 
attended church occasionally, and had been a 
member of the Sunday-school for a few years, 
it is not strange, that her answer was regarded 
as satisfactory, and that no one made any effort 
to find out whether she realized the nature of 
prayer — whether it was a mere form of words, or 
a bringing of all her sorrows and joys to her 
Heavenly Father. This might have been a 
chance for her to learn the source of all strength 
and help, but she missed it, and in missing it 
lost all that her new life might have meant 
if she had had any one to guide and direct her. 
Poor Mallie ! she stood in need of a wise help- 
ful friend ; she needed sorely to have a strength 


OPENING PATHS. 


215 


greater than her own to lean upon, and yet she 
had no earthly friend who cared enough for 
her to guide her to the love that was waiting 
for her and would supply all her need. 

I do not know but that she was even more 
to be pitied than if she had not borne the name 
Christian, for now that she was a member of 
the church she thought that she had reached as 
high in spiritual attainment as any one need to 
go, and felt as if because her name was upon the 
church roll she was sure of heaven when life 
was ended. 

And all this loneliness and barrenness of 
life, when if she had only known she might 
have been so rich ! 


2i6 


SILVER BOWLS* 


CHAPTER XX. 

WAYSIDE MINISTRIES. 

“ A LETTER from Aunt Belle ! Oh I am so 
glad !” was Louise’s involuntary exclamation 
Friday evening when she found a letter lying 
upon her bureau addressed in her aunt’s well- 
known handwriting. It was too great a treat 
to read hurriedly, and she determined to lay it 
aside until she had taken her supper and could 
sit down to read it quietly and without any 
haste. 

As usual Mallie sat in the room while she 
was eating, watching her with a wistfulness 
that annoyed Louise. She could not feel quite 
comfortable if she did not pay any attention 
to Mallie, and yet she did not like the girl 
enough to make any effort to be agreeable to 
her. It was very pleasant to be waited upon 
carefully and to have her wishes consulted as to 
every dish ; but beyond the discharge of the pe- 
cuniary obligation she did not want to make 
any return. 

Mallie was too shy to venture any conver- 
sation, and when Louise had answered very 
briefly the two or three inquiries that Mallie 
made about the store, there was silence. At last, 


WAYSIDE MINISTRIES. 


217 


when Louise had finished her meal and rose to 
leave the room, Mallie remembered how bit- 
terly her mother had complained that Louise 
had not been in to see her since her first intro- 
duction, and said, rather deprecatingly, “ Miss 
Rushton, would you mind going in to see mo- 
ther a little while ? She gets so lonesome, and 
she 's very fond of company.” 

Perhaps under some other circumstances 
Louise might have complied with this request ; 
but remembering the letter awaiting her, whose 
contents she was so eager to peruse, she replied 
rather coldly, “ I have something else to do this 
evening. Miss Norris. I am sorry your mother 
is lonely, but you must remember that I have 
very little time to myself, and I am too tired to 
do much but rest after I have been at the store 
all day.” 

Mallie did not answer, but began to clear the 
table with a flushed face. I can’t please folks, 
no matter how hard I try,” she thought to her- 
self. “ Here ’s mother nagging me all the time 
because I do n’t make Miss Rushton come in to 
see her, and I know she thinks that it has been 
my fault all along that she has n’t been in ; and 
now when I do ask her. Miss Rushton thinks I 
forget how tired she is and how much else she 
has to do. Oh dear !” 

Mallie had looked as pleased as if the letter 


2i8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


had been for herself, when she got Louise’s let- 
ter that afternoon at the post-office, for she 
knew how welcome letters were to the lonely 
girl who was away from all her friends and 
from home; but if she had known what a 
change the message in that letter would make 
in her lonely, desolate life, and indeed in the 
whole life of the home, she would have wel- 
comed it a hundred times more eagerly than 
even Louise herself could have done. 

Louise slipped on a comfortable wrapper, 
encased her feet in slippers, and settled her- 
self at ease in the one rocking-chair in the 
room, before she opened the letter. *‘What a 
splendid long letter !” she exclaimed, as she 
drew out a packet of paper closely written. 
“ Now I shall have a real treat.” 

The bright look on her face as she began to 
read changed to one of earnestness, and when 
she had finished the perusal of the letter she 
leaned back in her chair absorbed in thought, 
feeling as if her eyes had been opened to a new 
world about her. 

“We miss you all the time, dear,” wrote 
Aunt Belle. “ Dora says the lessons have lost 
half their charm without you, and complains 
that it is very hard, just as she learned how 
lovely it was to have a sister, to have to lose her. 
I miss my dear niece more and more, for while 


WAYSIDE MINISTRIES. 


219 


Fred is a dear boy and we are all attached to 
him, yet you made a very warm place for your- 
self in all our hearts that no one else can fill. 
And now, dearest, I have a great deal that I 
want to say to you as I would to Dora. I know 
just how brave you are in your letters home, 
how cheerful you are and how uncomplaining 
about all the hard things in your new life, and I 
am glad that you have told me a little about 
them, so that I can picture you to myself. And 
now, darling, perhaps you will be surprised 
when I tell you that sorry as I am that your 
path has to be such a rough one for a time, yet 
I feel as if God had honored you in putting you 
in a place where there is so much to do for him. 
It may be because he knows he can trust you 
to do it that he has given this work into your 
hand. 

“ You are fitted for it in many ways. The 
sweet, sunshiny disposition that is one of your 
greatest charms, and wins love everywhere, will 
help you to show the love of Christ in the life 
of one of his followers, and will make you like a 
sunbeam in that home which seems so unlovely 
to you. If you can bring that family to the Sa- 
viour and help them to live close to him by 
your example, I know you will think that a re- 
sult well worth all the hardships you may have 
to undergo. I am glad that you have won Mai- 


220 


SILVER BOWLS. 


lie’s heart, for now it will be easy for you to in- 
fluence her and help her. Dear, while I am 
sorry for all that is hard in your lot, yet I can- 
not help being glad for you as I think of the 
opportunities for service that you have. I know 
it is hard, but I know too that you want to do 
hard work for your King. You do not want to 
give him only of that which costs but little, and 
the more self-denial you may have to undergo, I 
know the sweeter the service will be. Try to 
forget yourself in your efforts to help those 
around you. If you think of them only as asso- 
ciates who are more or less congenial, you will 
never have anything in common with them, and 
you will miss your chance of helpfulness ; but 
consider each one with whom you are thrown 
in contact as some one to whom you can minis- 
ter in one way or another, and you will be sur- 
prised to see how soon you will lose all feelings 
of aversion in your desire to be helpful to them. 
Perhaps your life may only run in this channel 
for a little while, so every hour is precious as it 
comes to you laden with opportunities. That 
you have but little time in the house makes it 
both harder and easier for you — easier because 
you avoid much that is unpleasant, and harder 
because you must be more careful not to lose 
any opportunities. I shall not forget to remem- 
ber you very earnestly in my prayers that your 


WAYSIDE MINISTRIES. 


221 


efforts may blessed. Poor, ill-tempered Mallie ! 
What a change you may make in all the rest 
of her life by your influence ! ‘ Who knoweth 

whether thou art come to the kingdom for such 
a time as this?’ You, who have always enjoyed 
such a happy home-life, with love in every rela- 
tion, can set before her a higher ideal than she 
has ever yet known. With tact and love and 
patience you can do a great deal in that family. 

“ And now for the work which is such drudg- 
ery. I can understand just how hard you find 
it, and how it seems as if in one way it was 
throwing away your time, because you do not 
seem to be doing anything to improve yourself 
or to accomplish any especial good in the world. 
As you say, you do not have any time for self- 
culture. Let me quote a few lines that I read 
yesterday, and that seem well fitted to encour- 
age you, as no doubt they have encouraged 
many another who has grown weary of the 
treadmill routine of a never-ending daily task : 

“ ‘ Can it be that drudgery gives culture ? 
Yes, and culture of the prime elements of life — 
of the very fundamentals of all fine manhood 
and fine womanhood. Our prime elements are 
due to our drudgery — I mean that literally : the 
fundamentals that underlie all fineness, and 
without which no other culture worth the win- 
ning is even possible. These, for instance — 


222 


SILVER BOWLS. 


and what words are more familiar ? Power of 
attention ; power of industry ; promptitude in 
beginning work ; method and accuracy and des- 
patch in doing work ; perseverance ; courage 
before difficulties; cheer under straining bur- 
dens ; self-control and self-denial and temper- 
ance. These are the prime qualities ; these the 
fundamentals. Reading, writing, and arithmetic 
are very handy, but these fundamentals of a 
man are handier to have and worth more. They 
make one’s strength and momentum, what- 
soever and wheresoever the lot in life may 
be— in wealth or poverty, in city or country, in 
library or workshop. Those qualities make the 
solid substance of one’s self. 

“ ‘ How do we get them ? How do they be- 
come ours ? High school and college can give 
much, but these are never on their programmes. 
All the book processes that we go to school for, 
and commonly call our education, give no more 
than opportunity to win these indispensables of 
education. How then do we get them? We 
get them somewhat as the fields and valleys get 
their grace. Whence is it that the lines of river 
and meadow and hill and lake and shore conspire 
to-day to make the landscape beautiful ? Only 
by long chisellings and steady pressures. Only 
by ages of glacier crush and grind, by scour of 
floods and by centuries of storm and sun. These 


WAYSIDE MINISTRIES. 


223 


rounded the hills and scooped the valley curves 
and mellowed the soil for meadow grace. There 
was little grace in the operation, had we been 
there to see. It was drudgery all over the land. 
Mother Nature was down on her knees, doing 
her early scrubbing work. That was yesterday ; 
to-day, as the result of scrubbing work, we have 
the laughing landscape. 

“ ‘Now what is true of the earth is true of 
each man and woman on the earth. Father and 
mother and the ancestors before them have done 
much to bequeath those mental qualities to us, 
but that which scrubs them into us, the clinch 
which makes them actually ours, and keeps them 
ours, and adds to them as the years go by, that 
depends upon our own plod, our plod in the rut, 
our drill of habit ; in one word, depends upon 
our drudgery. Beyond all books, beyond all 
class work at the schools, beyond all special op- 
portunities of what I call my education, is this 
drill and pressure of my daily task that is my 
great schoolmaster. My daily task, whatever it 
may be, that is what mainly educates me. All 
other culture is mere luxury compared with what 
that gives.’ 

“Doesn’t that make drudgery seem better 
worth while, dearest ? I admit that it is not v/hat 
I would have chosen for you, nor the sort of cul- 
ture that is the most pleasant ; but I know that 


224 


SILVER BOWLS. 


it is what is best for you, or it would not have 
been sent to you. Do n’t harden yourself against 
it, but let it do its perfect work and chisel your 
character into new beauty. And where" you have 
had greater opportunities and higher knowledge 
than those now about you, let that only make 
you strive for greater helpfulness. Dear lonely 
girl, my heart aches for you, and yet I know I 
am giving you the only secret of happiness, or 
even of contentment, in urging you to put self 
aside and live for others. Even the drudgery of 
3^our daily task will be glorified if you remember 
that it is fitting you for usefulness and develop- 
ing your character. Is it not a chance for con- 
stant service as a ‘ Silver Bowl ’ — not any great 
deed, but the quiet unobtrusive ministry that 
blesses every one with whom it comes in con- 
tact ? Tell me all that you can about your life, 
dear, for you know how we love you. Let me 
hear all that discourages you and all that glad- 
dens your heart as well. Under all the heartache 
and loneliness I know you have peace — the peace 
of an accepted sorrow. May God bless you in 
your work for him in this corner of his vineyard 
which he has sent you to till, is the prayer of 
Your loving 


AUNT BELLE.’ 


BEGINNING. 


225 


CHiVPTER XXI. 

BEGINNING. 

It was a new thouglit to Louise that there 
was any work for her to do in her new home. It 
had been the one thing that she had been con- 
gratulating herself upon, that she need have ab- 
solutely nothing more to do with any of her new 
associates than strictly business relations re- 
quired. They were all uncongenial, and never 
more so than since she had mingled with culti- 
vated society in her aunt’s home and associated 
with those who were intent upon making the 
most of themselves and developing every talent. 

Louise’s Christian life was really deep and 
earnest, and the sorrow which was bearing so 
heavily upon her heart only drew her closer to 
God and deepened her desire to serve him. It 
was with a solemn joy that she now recognized 
the fact that he had placed her here to serve, not 
laid her aside from a useful life, as she had been 
thinking, and she was ready to begin at once. 
She reproached herself for having been so self- 
ish and blind, and, with her usual impulsiveness, 
determined to begin that very evening to try to 
brighten the lives of those about her. 

Her aunt had shown her knowledge of 

silver Bowls. 


226 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Louise’s character when she advised her to 
work for others that she might find happiness 
for herself, and the feeling ^hat she could be of 
some real usefulness after all, and the very diffi- 
culties of the task before her, which indeed, 
might seem a hopeless one, of bringing peace 
and harmony into such a discordant home, only 
increased her earnestness. 

I will go right down and make a little call 
on Mrs. Norris,” she said, glancing at her watch. 
“ It is n’t too late, for she never goes to sleep 
before nine o’clock, and it is only half-past eight 
now.” 

There was a good deal of excuse for Mrs. 
Norris’ fretfulness and complaint. Imagine a 
woman with no mental resources, with no beauti- 
ful memories in her life to dwell upon, with but 
very few friends, and those few not people who 
could bring her any real helpfulness, unloving 
and unlovely, condemned to imprisonment in a 
single room. Even the bravest and sweetest of 
women, who had garnered strength for the times 
of need, and who had books and friends to cheer 
her and the tenderest love to minister to her, 
might have often grown impatient and weary of 
confinement. Her children were no comfort, or 
at least she would not let them be a comfort. 
The sad thing about that family was that they 
never said anything that might by any chance 


BEGINNING. 


227 


prove helpful or encouraging to each other. Mrs. 
Norris, no doubt, often realized that Mallie was 
bearing far too heavy a burden for one of her 
years, and that she was a faithful little nurse 
who never neglected her mother for her own 
pleasure, not even leaving the house unless it 
was necessary ; but it never entered her head to 
say so. She was ready to complain if anything 
was neglected that should have been done for 
her comfort, ready to speak bitterly of all fail- 
ures, and to reproach both son and daughter with 
their lack of affection for her ; but she had never 
seemed to realize that the lack of home happi- 
ness was in any way her fault as a mother. That 
Mallie and Tom failed often enough in their 
duties was true ; but that they did not fail of- 
tener was the only wonder, when they never had 
a word of appreciation for what they did well. 

Many things would of necessity remain very 
hard in that household : there would probably 
always be illness, a struggle for means, . and 
plenty of hard work ; but how all this hardship 
could have been sweetened by mutual love, none 
of the family knew, and there had seemed a 
possibility of their never knowing it. 

Just now Mrs. Norris was scolding Mallie. 

“I should think you might find something 
pleasant to talk about once in a while,” she said. 
“ You know I never hear the news, shut up as I 


228 


SILVER BOWLS. 


am, and yet you never care. 1 never hear about 
what is going on, except what I read in the 
papers.” 

“ Well, where do I ever go to get a bit of 
news ?” interrupted Mallie, feeling that this was 
too unjust to pass over in the silence in which 
she had been listening to the rest of the fault- 
finding. “ I could hunt up news fast enough if 
I ever left you and v/ent out to hear anything, 
but then you would complain more than ever. I 
am about as much shut up as you are ; and the 
only news I ever hear is what I read in the pa- 
pers, too, for Miss Rushton do n’t talk unless I 
speak to her.” 

“ I thought you would soon enough get sick 
of your boarder !” said Mrs. Norris triumphantly. 
“You thought it would be very nice to have her 
at first, and you would n’t listen to me when I 
told you that lady boarders are more trouble 
than they are worth. That is always the way. 
You wont believe that I know anything until 
you find out the truth of it for yourself.” 

“ Oh, mother,” exclaimed Mallie in despair, 
“ how you do go on ! I never said I v/as tired of 
Miss Rushton, and I am sure I was n’t thinking 
of finding any fault with her for not talking. If 
I was in her place I am sure I should n’t want to 
have anything to do with such a set as we are, 
and I don’t blame her.” 


BEGINNING. 


229 


‘‘What is the matter with us that we aren’t 
good enough for her to speak to, I should like to 
know ?” demanded Mrs. Norris wrathfully. “ I 
guess she has to work for her living too, the same 
as other folks, and I do n’t see any call for her to 
put on airs and hold herself above us. I ’d be 
glad enough to get rid of her, for my part.” 

“And how would we get along then, T should 
like to know?” asked Mallie. “There isn’t 
another cent of money coming into the house, 
except what she pays for her board ; for Tom 
isn’t earning a cent, and I don’t believe he ever 
will, for he do n’t try at all to get anything to do. 
You’d want her back fast enough if she went 
away, for we ’d just have to starve. It ’s very 
easy for you to lie there and find fault with 
everything, but if you just had to keep the house 
going, and get enough for Tom to eat without 
one cent coming in but her board, you would be 
thankful enough to have Miss Rushton here. 
She isn’t our kind, and that’s why she don’t 
want to have anything to do with us. After 
what she heard that Sunday, I wonder that she 
will stay here at all. That is the only thing that 
I ever do wonder about. Hush, mother, will 
you !” she implored as she heard Louise’s door 
open. “ She will hear you if you say anything 
about her.” 

To annoy Mallie, Mrs. Norris would have 


230 


SILVER BOWLS. 


been almost willing to offend Louise, but she did 
recognize that the money Louise paid for her 
board was very necessary when there was no 
other source of income in the family, so she re- 
frained. She was surprised to hear the rustle 
of Louise’s gown in the hall, and a moment later 
to hear her voice, ‘‘ May I come in and see you a 
little, Mrs. Norris ?” 

Mallie’s face lighted up as Louise entered, 
and she insisted upon going back to Louise’s 
room for a comfortable chair, so that she might 
rest while she sat there. 

“ I am glad to see you,” said Mrs. Norris, as 
Mallie went on her errand. “ I get awful lone- 
some lying here all the time, for the neighbors 
don’t often come in to see me, and Mallie isn’t 
the kind of girl that has any knack at picking 
up bits of news or anything interesting. I was 
just telling her that she forgets how lonely it is 
for me.” 

Louise was tempted to show a little indigna- 
tion at this complaint of Mallie, which seemed 
so unkind and unmotherly. 

“ I wonder what I should do if I had such a 
mother,” she thought. “ I can’t imagine mo- 
ther ever complaining of us to any one, no mat- 
ter what we did — and to such a perfect stran- 
ger as I am. I think it is too mean for anything. 
I do n’t wonder Mallie looks so cross all the time.” 


BEGINNING. 23 1 

“Mallie is such a devoted nurse that she 
does n’t have much chance to hear any news,” she 
said ; and Mallie, coming back just then, caught 
the words and flushed with pleasure till her thin, 
sharp face looked almost pretty. She could not 
remember when she had heard any one saying 
anything kind about her before, and that 
Louise should speak kindly of her delighted her 
heart. 

“ Most people think they have enough to do 
if they are housekeepers or nurses, but Mallie 
seems to combine the two wonderfully.” 

Louise had caught the smile on Mallie ’s 
face, and felt like bestowing all the praise she 
could, particularly when her mother seemed to 
appreciate her so little. 

“ Well, yes, Mallie is handy,” admitted her 
mother. “ She gets it from me, for when I had 
my health I could do more than most people, if I 
do say it myself. How are you getting on at 
the store, Miss Rushton? I haven’t had any 
chance to ask you before.” 

“ I think I am getting used to the work and 
can do it better than I did at first,” Louise an- 
swered. 

I suppose it ’s a great come-down in the 
world for you to have to work,” said Mrs. Nor- 
ris. 

Louise flushed a little. Somehow everything 


232 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Mrs. Norris said seemed to antagonize her, and 
she began to lose a little of her desire to make 
herself agreeable. 

“ Why, no, I do n’t think it is in the least a 
come-down to work,” she answered. “ I think a 
girl must be very unhappy who has no especial 
aim in life. I have never had any idle time, for 
since I left school I have helped my mother 
about the house, and before I came here I was 
fitting myself to be a teacher. I should have 
been glad of course if I could have carried out 
that plan ; but as I could not, I am glad that 
something was open for me.” 

I never heard any one talk as if she liked 
work before,” said Mrs. Norris. “ I wish Mallie 
could have head enough to have made a teacher, 
but she never took to her books as some folks 
do.” 

“ Do n’t forget that I never had much chance,” 
Mallie said, wishing that her mother would not 
always speak so depreciatingly about her to 
visitors. 

“ I suppose your mother must miss you very 
much,” said Mrs. Norris to Louise. “ Are you 
her only daughter ?” 

“No, I have a sister a little younger than I 
am, and another that we always consider the 
baby, because she is only six years old,” Louise 
replied. “ Would you like to see her picture ?” 





Silver Bowls. Page 233. 













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BEGINNING. 


233 


she asked, wondering whether a sight of the 
pretty baby face would not brighten Mrs. Norris 
up a little. 

“ Yes, I should like to see all your folks,” 
Mrs. Norris answered, and Louise went to her 
room to get the pictures that were her dearest 
treasures. She hesitated over her father’s pic- 
ture, and finally laid it back in its place, feeling 
that it was too sacred to show these strangers. 

“ She ’s a pretty little thing, is n’t she !” said 
Mrs. Norris, as Louise put Lottie’s picture in 
her hand. 

“ She is pretty, and the dearest little sister 
any one ever had,” Louise answered warmly ; 
then, as Mrs. Norris laid the case down, she 
gave her Fred’s picture. He was a handsome, 
manly-looking lad, and Mrs. Norris looked at 
his picture with evident admiration. 

“ Why, he must be just about the age of my 
Tom,” she remarked. “ I dare say he is a 
deal more comfort to his mother than my Tom 
will ever be to me.” 

“ We all ought to be comforts to our mother, 
for she is the best mother in the world, we 
think,” Louise answered warmly, thinking of the 
difference between the two women. “ We never 
one of us heard her say an impatient word in all 
our lives.” 

“ What ?” asked Mrs. Norris in surprise. “ Do 


234 


SILVER BOWLS. 


you mean she brought you up to do whatever 
you wanted, and never said anything?” 

“Oh no, I don’t mean that,” Louise an- 
swered. “ She would never let us do anything 
wrong, or let us disobey her, but she never 
scolded us. She always talked to us about it so 
gently, when we had done anything that was 
wrong, that we tried harder than ever to do as 
she wanted us to. Just look at her face. Does 
she look like a mother that could scold ?” 

Mrs. Rush ton’s face was indeed a sweet, 
motherly face, not strictly beautiful, but attrac- 
tive from its loving expression ; and Mrs. Norris 
as she looked at it felt a new consciousness that 
she had not been all that a mother might be to 
her children. 

“ She ’s a sweet-looking woman, and I do n’t 
wonder you are fond of her,” she said. “ Where ’s 
your father’s picture ?” 

“ I will show you that some other time,” 
Louise answered, with an unsteady voice ; and 
Mallie, with quick tact that one would not -have 
expected from her, hastily turned the subject by 
asking a question about Dottie. 

The clock down stairs struck nine just then 
and Louise arose. 

“ I must go now, for I know you always go 
to sleep about this time,” she said. “ I will come 
in again some other time, if you wish.” 


BEGINNING. 


235 


“I’m sure I would be very grateful if you 
would,” was the hearty response. “ I have n’t 
enjoyed an evening as much as this in a long 
time. I ’ve been wishing you would come in 
now and then, ever since you have been boarding 
with us, but I suppose Mallie has n’t thought to 
tell you.” 

“ Oh yes, Mallie has invited me to come in 
and see you,” said Louise quickly. “ I have 
been very tired when I came home ; that was 
partly the reason, and then I do not feel very 
much like being company for any one. Good 
evening, Tom,” she added, as the boy came 
up stairs, and stopped in surprise in the door- 
way at the sight of a guest in his mother’s 
room. 

Beyond the few words that had passed be- 
tween Louise and Tom on the day when he 
brought her home from the station, they had 
not spoken to each other ; for Tom, although 
willing enough to respond to any greeting, did 
not want to make the first advances ; and he was 
so used to being snubbed at home that he 
rather expected the same treatment from the 
boarder, and was rather relieved than other- 
wise to find that she did not propose to take any 
notice of him. 

“Good evening,” he answered pleasantly 
enough, taking off his cap just in time to avoid 


SILVER BOWLS. 


236 

being reminded of its presence upon his head 
by his mother, and with a Good night ” to 
Mallie and Mrs. Norris, Louise went back to 
her room, feeling as if, though she had accom- 
plished nothing, still she had made a begin- 
ning of acquaintance at any rate. 


MORE WORK. 


237 


CHAPTER XXII. 

MORE WORK. 

It is like the old story of “ Eyes and No 
Eyes.” One person can go through the world 
absolutely blind to all the little chances for use- 
fulness and helpfulness that lie on every side, 
while another person in the same circumstances 
can make his life a constant benediction, be- 
cause he has been trained to watchfulness. 

Louise wondered now where her eyes had 
been that she had been so blind to every oppor- 
tunity. Now, since her aunt’s letter had placed 
her surroundings in such a different light, she 
could be almost enthusiastic over the possibili- 
ties for usefulness which opened on every side. 
She could feel that God had indeed honored 
her by sending her so much that was hard to 
bear, and placing her where she might be able 
to accomplish more than she could have if she 
had kept on in her happy sheltered life in her 
aunt’s home. She was glad that none of the 
girls at the store had recognized the feeling of 
pride that had held her aloof from them, but 
that they had attributed it to the fact of her be- 
ing in mourning. At least she would not have 
to lose any time in undoing what she had done 


238 


SILVER BOWLS. 


amiss, but could begin at once to plan for help- 
fulness. If she had had opportunities for cul- 
ture and self-improvement that the other girls 
had not, these opportunities only made it the 
more obligatory for her to share them in what- 
ever measure she could. 

Possibly none of the girls who had belonged 
to the little circle of Maplewood Institute sen- 
iors, and had taken for their class motto “ Doe 
ye nexte thynge,” fully realized what an educa- 
tion towards helpful womanhood this watchful- 
ness for little things in their daily paths might 
be. So many people are selfish and thought- 
less, not from intentional love of self or indiffer- 
ence towards others, but simply because they 
have never been taught to look for opportuni- 
ties ; and so they go on through life seldom see- 
ing the royal chances for service and missing 
the blessedness of helping others, when they 
might have been so different if they had begun 
in their younger days to “ do ye nexte thynge ” 
for others whenever the opportunity came. 

Upon a crowded ferryboat, just as it was 
about to enter its slip, a feeble old woman 
dropped her cane. Leaning over with great 
difficulty, she essayed to pick it up. It was just 
a trifle beyond her grasp and kept slipping 
away from her fingers whenever she tried to 
close them around it. People were passing her 


MORE WORK. 


239 


on their way to the front of the boat, and it 
would have seemed but an instinct with the first 
one to pick up the cane and restore it to its 
feeble owner, but he passed on — an elderly man 
who had lived long enough in the world to have 
trained himself to helpfulness. Next passed a 
well-dressed woman who, with a certain amount 
of thoughtfulness for the poor old woman, 
stepped a little aside that she might not push 
against her as she leaned over ; but the further 
thoughtfulness of picking up the cane evidently 
did not occur to her. Two young girls with 
music-rolls in their hands, on their way into the 
city for a music-lesson, came past next, chatting 
so busily that they did not notice the old wo- 
man and pushed rather roughly against her 
without even being conscious of it. She 
straightened herself for a moment and then 
stooped over again. A boy with his hands in 
his pockets passed next, but he too did not 
think of the help he could give so easily. Then 
came an elderly woman who looked with a 
mild interest at the feeble hands trying to close 
upon the cane, but no help came from her 
either. A young man passed and gave the cane 
a mischievous push with his foot which sent it 
just a little farther out of reach. 

Poor old woman ! She looked helplessly at 
it and then at her neighbors on either side. 


240 


SILVER BOWLS. 


One was a portly man, reading his newspaper 
and unconscious of all that was going on around 
him, and the other was a woman scanning her 
memorandum-book and planning her purchases. 
Then came a young Maplewood girl, against 
the folds of whose dress glittered the little silver 
cross that proclaimed her a daughter of the 
King. She stooped down and handed the cane 
to the old woman with a pleasant smile that 
made the act doubly gracious. It was not 
merely the wearing of the badge that had made 
her recognize the opportunity that so many 
others had passed unheeded, for one of the two 
girls who had brushed against the woman had 
worn the same badge, and yet had not the man- 
ners of the court. It was evidently the habit of 
the Maplewood girl’s life to consider any one’s 
need her opportunity, and nothing was too little 
for her to do gladly and graciously. 

Probably not one of those who had passed, 
except the young man who took the trouble to 
add to the difficulties of an old woman, would 
have been unwilling to help her if he or she 
had only thought of it. It was merely that they 
did not think and were not in the habit of 
thinking, and so they left undone what they 
might easily have done. Near the door of the 
cabin was seated a woman with a family of little 
children. One was a very young baby in arms ; 


MORE WORK. 


241 


the next, but little more than a baby, was on 
the seat beside her, and two others very nearly 
of the same age stood at her side. A large bag 
added to her charges. Here again our young 
girl recognized her chance for royal service. 
She leaned over and asked some question of the 
mother, which was answered by a grateful 
affirmative, and she waited with the mother and 
children until the other passengers had left the 
boat. Then gathering up the next to the baby 
in her strong young arms and leading one of 
the other children, she helped the mother off 
the boat and saw her safely deposited upon a 
street-car with the children and bag, and went 
on her way, her face as radiant as if she had 
been the one who had been ministered to, in- 
stead of having stopped to do what perhaps not 
one other person in all that boat-full of passen- 
gers would have thought of doing to help an 
overburdened mother. 

And one could fancy as she went on her 
way what a beautiful life hers must be, so full 
of gracious acts, done graciously “In His 
Name,” without thought of any admiration from 
those who might notice her loving deeds. She 
was plainly attired, and might not be rich in 
this world’s goods ; but many a young girl who 
could have everything that heart could wish 
might well feel poor beside her. 

Silrer Cowls 1 6 


242 


SILVER BOWLS. 


None of that class of seniors could pass 
through life with their eyes wholly shut to op- 
portunities, and though they might not recog- 
nize them at once, as Louise had failed to do, 
yet when they should have their attention 
called to the matter they would not be helpless 
through lack of experience in helping others in 
various ways. 

Louise’s first plan came to her that day at 
noon. Many of the girls lived too far away 
from their homes or boarding-places to go there 
for dinner, and brought their lunch with them 
and ate it down in the cloak-room. When 
Louise went down to get her coat and hat to go 
to the house for dinner, she passed a group who 
were reading as they ate, and almost uncon- 
sciously glancing at the books they were so 
interested in, she saw that they were appar- 
ently the trashy literature that is so apt to 
fall into the hands of girls of that age in any 
position in life unless their tastes have been 
carefully guided. 

Louise’s father and mother had been very 
careful about the books their children read, rec- 
ognizing that, to a greater extent than is usually 
considered, books help to mould the young 
lives ; and so while she was not as intellectually 
inclined as Achsah, and did not particularly 
enjoy instructive reading, yet her taste had 


MORE WORK. 


243 


been too carefully cultivated to allow her to find 
enjoyment in the pages of a trashy love story. 

One of the plans which the circle of the 
“ Silver Bowls ” had determined to carry out had 
been suggested to them by a little talk that they 
heard one evening at a literary society to which 
Dora’s father and mother belonged, and which 
the girls had been enabled to attend upon this 
evening because it met at Mr. Meade’s house. 
A literary gentleman from outside was the 
speaker, and the girls had listened to him eager- 
ly, charmed by his manner and his fascinating 
powers of description, and deeply interested as 
he proceeded by his account of the organization 
and work accomplished by the Home Culture 
Circles which were the outgrowth of his own 
plan for helping others. 

The quiet way in which he began his talk 
glowed into intense enthusiasm as he spoke of 
the Christliness of the work, which, without con- 
descension or an air of charity, met those who 
had been less fortunate in opportunities for self- 
culture and helped them up to a higher level. 
All this, too, without taking them away from 
their homes or separating them from their fami- 
lies. As he told some of the results that these 
Home Culture Circles had accomplished, the 
girls felt eager to add this to their other plans 
at once. The simplicity of the project made it 


244 


SILVER BOWLS. 


possible to any one. It was not necessary to be 
a born leader, to have a talent for organization, 
to be especially gifted ; all that was necessary 
was to have the desire to help those who were 
next to one’s self and could be most easily 
reached. 

There are certain recognized disadvantages 
in many organizations for the uplifting of those 
who have not had opportunities for making the 
most of themselves, and the work has to be done 
in spite of these drawbacks, for it has not in 
most cases seemed possible to obviate them. It 
is hard to persuade people who have no con- 
sciousness of their poverty of mind, and of the 
world of knowledge that is open before them if 
they but choose to enter it, to take the time and 
trouble to add to their information. It is almost 
impossible to form a plan of study so simple and 
attractive that they will wish to undertake it^ 
The simplest of text-books alarms them, and the 
suspicion that you are stooping down to raise 
them up to your level antagonizes them, or 
makes them seem to themselves paupers. On 
the other hand, if they are willing to be taught, 
and leave their homes to rise above their sur- 
roundings, it is not a wholly good result except 
to the individual student, for the incompatibility 
which follows disunites the family instead of 
drawing it more closely together. 


MORE WORK. 


245 


There are disadvantages in large organiza- 
tions too, for they are apt to blot out individual- 
ity ; so the ideal plan would be one which would 
bring the home up to the highest level possible 
to every member of it, which should be entirely 
free from a trace of condescension, and which 
should gradually uplift those that it tried to 
reach, by meeting them at first upon their own 
level, and by insensible degrees arousing higher 
aims in them, and helping them to make the 
most of themselves, notwithstanding all disad- 
vantages of hereditary environments and lack of 
training. 

The membership in the proposed circles is 
limited to seven in number, except in unusual 
cases, so that they may not exceed the bounds 
of an individual interest in each other’s work. 
Their aim is a regular plan of reading, not ne- 
cessarily educational, if lighter reading is desired, 
as it is in most cases at first ; and they are to 
meet successively in the different homes of the 
members, instead of in any club-room. It is de- 
sirable that the leader shall be better informed 
than the others, that she may help them gradual- 
ly to a higher level, but she must be free from 
any assumption of superiority which shall make 
the others feel as if she were stooping to their 
level. The help that these clubs have been in 
many homes in which it might have been almost 


246 


SILVER BOWLS. 


impossible to bring any other influence to bear 
at first, the interest the whole family take in 
the meetings and in the readings, and their 
gradual elevation to a higher plane, have been 
demonstrated over and over again. 

Boys, in their circles, are met on their own 
ground, and instead of attempting to force their 
tastes at once to something above the low level 
which is sometimes their highest possibility, 
they are met sympathetically and cordially just 
as they are, and encouraged to do the thing 
they like to do best in the very best possible 
way. Gradually their possibilities develop, but 
to have gained them at all is a conquest well 
worth years of patience. If even reading of 
the most vivid type is too much for their 
mental calibre, and an imitation of a drum- 
major’s motions, the singing of a comic song, or 
the thrumming of an accordeon, is the height of 
their ambition, the leader meets them there, and 
they are encouraged to do any one of these 
things as well as they can, and so are stimulated 
to higher aims. 

Our undertaking,” said the speaker, “ is in 
the interest of those homes which mentally, 
morally, or materially lack the elements that 
make home the factor in civilization that it 
should be, if civilization is ever to see our 
whole race noble and happy. We seek to carry 


MORE WORK. 


247 


refreshment of body and spirit to the homes that 
are poor, naked, or negative. We realize that to 
reach the individual best, we must reach him in 
and through his home. The home is the soul’s 
fortress, and we seek to induce fathers and sons, 
mothers and daughters, to stay within it by en- 
riching its conditions. But we know that to be 
effective, this enrichment must also be ennoble- 
ment. It is possible — it is easy — to be enriched 
in the life, and not purified. A man may enjoy 
all the intellectual and aesthetical culture the 
world can give him, and yet be morally no bet- 
ter than if he had them not. But culture can be 
made the means of real ennoblement, 

Again, we must find ways of doing this 
which will promote our own ennoblement. And 
yet we must endeavor to make the means both 
profitable and pleasant to ourselves, in order 
that we may easily induce others in large num- 
bers to take up the work with and after us. To 
make any kind of work less easy and pleasant 
than is necessary to the best results is as bad 
religion as it is bad art and bad sense. We must 
make our work such that we can genuinely 
show, not martyrdom, but enjoyment in it and 
profit from it to ourselves. 

“ Now, from our own and the world’s ex- 
perience, we divine that the best way to enrich 
and ennoble homes that need our influence, the 


248 


SILVER BOWLS. 


best, easiest, and happiest way, is by personal 
friendship. It is by personal friendship that we 
propose to impart to the lives and homes of 
those who need us most, richness and nobility, 
to take out barrenness and supply tone, quality, 
'direction, purpose, and fruitage. I say again that 
this must be consciously, visibly, and attractively 
rewarding to our beneficiaries and ourselves. 
And yet this cannot come from any mere in- 
terchange of social pleasures any more than by 
an interchange of commercial values. For 
social pleasures are a sort of beautiful commerce, 
and cannot flourish where there is not a con- 
scious interchange of equivalents. It must main- 
tain its quid pro quo. You may say that this is 
a mere rehearsal of trite first principles, but I 
think they come to us now, after experiment 
and experience, in a newer, clearer guise, and we 
must keep them so.” 

The stories of the dreary lives that had been 
lifted from the depths of ignorance into higher, 
brighter possibilities, the fact that it was possi- 
ble for every one of his hearers to become the 
centre of one of these circles, and — beginning 
with the next one at hand who might stand in 
need of such help, without going away from 
home or out of one’s every - day life — to form 
one of these ever-widening circles of influence, 
appealed strongly to all who were present, but 


MORE WORK. 


249 


perhaps most of all to the two girls who wel- 
comed chances of usefulness; and at the very 
next meeting of the Circle they all enlisted 
themselves in this work, which was at once so 
practicable and so useful. 

The very week that Louise had left her 
aunt’s home so suddenly, she had planned with 
Dora to begin a Home Culture Circle, and some 
of the rest had already reported progress, but 
until to-day the whole matter had dropped out 
of Louise’s thoughts. Now however there was 
a chance that she might not have had in any 
other way than by becoming one of these girls 
in outward circumstances. It was almost an 
ideal opportunity. 


250 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE COMMENCEMENT. 

Mallie was radiant with pleasure as she 
waited upon Louise at her dinner that day. It 
seemed too good to be true that the girl whom 
she admired with all her heart, and from whom 
she had scarcely dared to hope for a word, 
should actually give her a pleasant nod and 
smile as she entered and seem disposed to chat 
with her. If Louise’s visit to her mother the 
night before had been a surprise, this was even 
more amazing. Mallie could not account for 
the change ; indeed she did not try to, but was 
satisfied to enjoy it. 

“Do you like to read?” Louise asked, after 
she had made some pleasant inquiries about 
commonplace things. 

“No, I do n’t exactly think I do,” Mallie an- 
swered somewhat hesitatingly. “ Of course I 
do n’t have much time to read anyhow, and then 
I haven’t anything but newspapers. I don’t 
care much for love stories, and I suppose that 
is all that there is to read.” 

“ Oh, indeed, it isn’t,” Louise answered ear- 
nestly. “ I do n’t care for love stories myself, 
but there are ever so many other books that I 


THE COMMENCEMENT. 


251 


never tire of, and that I am sure you would enjoy 
too. If you like, I will bring one of my favor- 
ites down stairs and read a little while this 
evening, and see if you do n’t like it as well as 
I do.” 

Mallie flushed with delight. 

‘‘Oh will you really?” she exclaimed eager- 
ly. “ Oh I can’t tell you how much I shall like 
it. Miss Rushton ! And would you mind read- 
ing in mother’s room, so that she can hear you 
too?” 

Louise had not thought at first of including 
Mrs. Norris in her plan, but a moment’s thought 
convinced her that she needed it even more than 
Mallie, and she answered cordially, 

“ Certainly I will, if you think she would 
like it.” 

When she had gone back to the store, Mallie 
sat down and fairly cried with delight. I do n’t 
think I can possibly make you understand what 
it was to this lonely, disheartened, desolate girl 
to have a little real kindness and sympathy, more 
particularly from one whom she admired as she 
did Louise. Her heart was so light that the work, 
the anxiety, the dreary unbroken round of drudg- 
ery, were no longer intolerable burdens, and she 
sang as she went about her work, till her mother, 
hearing the unwonted sound, wondered not a lit- 
tle what had come over the girl. 


252 


SILVER BOWLS. 


It was not a busy afternoon, and now and 
then when any of the girls came to the desk 
upon some trifling errand, Louise no longer at- 
tended to them with the air of reserve which 
had characterized her, but showed a willingness 
to be sociable that she had never evinced before. 

“ I made a mistake about the new cashier,” 
said May Hughes, when she went back to her 
place at the counter after an errand at the desk. 
“ I had begun to think that she was a stuck-up 
piece and did n’t want to have anything to do 
with any of us, but I guess it was only because 
she felt homesick that she acted so. She was 
real pleasant to me just now.” 

“Oh, she is nice,” Clara Newell responded 
promptly. “ She went to the Christian Endeavor 
meeting with me last Sunday night, and she ’s a 
member of a society at home, too.” 

“And Clara thinks that means that she’s 
bound to be nice, because she ’s a member of a 
Christian Endeavor Society,” laughed one of the 
girls. “ I do n’t think they are all saints in that 
society, Clara.” 

Clara’s face flushed a little. 

“ I know that well enough,” she answered 
pleasantly, suppressing her annoyance at being 
teased, for this was a favorite subject with the 
speaker. “ As long as I am in the society myself 
I wont pretend that they are all saints ; but I 


THE COMMENCEMENT. 


253 


will say that they endeavor to be, and that is 
more than some other folks can say, anyway.” 

“ Good for you, Clara,” said May Hughes. “ If 
you are n’t a saint, I will say you set us all a good 
example in lots of things. You never get mad, 
and you are the most obliging girl in the store.” 

“ Oh, she ’d be obliging anyhow. She ’s that 
kind,” said another girl, joining the group. 
“ There are obliging people, and there are dis- 
obliging people, and you can’t make one out of 
the other, no matter how hard you try.” 

I know Clara is the obliging kind,” May 
said, “ but I know this too, that she has to try to 
be obliging lots of times. It is n’t just because 
she is obliging, nor because she is afraid of get- 
ting fined, that she is so good with the fussy 
customers. Anyhow she has been very different 
since she joined the church. I am going to stand 
up for that society if Clara belongs to it ; and if 
the cashier belongs to it, I am willing to believe 
that she is nicer than I gave her credit for being. 
When I see people trying to do right as hard as 
Clara does, I am going to believe in what they 
say.” 

Clara had gone to another part of the counter 
to wait upon a customer, and so she missed hear- 
ing what her companions were saying about her. 
With all her fun and playfulness— and she was 
quite as full of it as any of her associates— she 


254 


SILVER BOWLS. 


never forgot that she was a professing Christian, 
and under all the surface of light-heartedness 
there was a deep purpose to live a Christian life, 
and not keep any one else away from Christ by 
her failures. She never spoke of her religion, 
except to occasionally mention the meetings 
which she enjoyed so much or to refer to some 
sermon which she had liked particularly ; but 
the girls all knew that she tried to live it, and 
they honored her for it. 

She was the only one in the store who had 
attended some special services held in the church 
nearly a year before, and when she expressed a 
desire to unite with the church, many who knew 
her wondered whether it was not a sudden im- 
pulse of which she would repent before many 
weeks. As the days went on it became very 
evident that she was a changed girl : her love of 
fun was not abated, she was as ready to join in 
a jest or laugh at a humorous occurrence, but 
the least observant of her companions could not 
but notice that she steadfastly tried to do right. 
In many ways she was just the same. Her reli- 
gion had not refined her tastes or made her a 
more congenial companion for a girl who had 
been reared in Louise’s circumstances ; but there 
was this one point of strong sympathy between 
them : they were both followers of the same 
Lord and Master, and both were striving to walk 


THE COMMENCEMENT. 


255 


in liis steps. The jokes that amused Clara would 
have been distasteful to Louise, and the books 
over which the former pored with absorbed in- 
terest would have been the veriest trash to the 
latter; but with all the dissimilarity in their 
tastes, there was a common ground upon which 
they could meet. 

Louise spent not a little time in thought that 
afternoon as to what book would surely prove 
interesting to her listeners. If she should choose 
something that did not prove entertaining, her 
plan might fail in the beginning, and she wanted 
to guard against that. Her sister had packed 
some of her old favorites among the books she 
had put in with the other things which she hoped 
would give somewhat of a homelike aspect to 
the room where Louise should board, and among 
them were two of Miss Alcott’s works, which 
Louise was sure could not fail to fascinate Mallie 
and her mother as they had fascinated her some 
years ago. She finally resolved upon “ Little 
Women,” feeling quite sure that even Tom 
would be interested, should he be within hear- 
ing distance. 

There was a certain air of festive preparation 
that attracted Tom’s attention when he came 
home late that afternoon, after a day spent in 
fruitless inquiries wherever he thought that a 
boy’s services might be in demand. The general 


SILVER BOWLS. 


256 

atmosphere of depression and discouragement 
had changed as much as if a damp drizzle had 
been succeeded by a crisp, invigorating sunshiny 
day, and Mallie actually spoke pleasantly to him 
when he came in — something that was quite new 
in Tom’s experience of home greetings. 

She was taking a pan of crisp cookies from 
the oven, and the appetizing odor was very 
tempting. 

“ Is that you, Tom ?” she said, looking over 
her shoulder. Do you want a cooky ?” 

“Just ready for one,” Tom answered. “I 
guess I must have known that you were making 
them, and came home on purpose for one.” 

“ Did you have any success ?” Mallie asked. 

“Just the same as I always do,” Tom an- 
swered. “ People seem to be afraid that I would 
overwork if they gave me a chance to do any- 
thing, and I suppose that makes them feel as if 
they could n’t take the responsibility upon their 
shoulders of letting me kill myself.” 

“ Well, it ’s a long road that has no turning,” 
Mallie said, giving him another cooky before she 
put the plate away in the pantry. “ Maybe some- 
thing will turn up yet. I was awfully discour- 
aged just the very day that I heard about Miss 
Rushton’s coming.” 

“ I ’ll cultivate discouragement, and see what 
that will do to-morrow,” Tom answered through 


THE COMMENCEMENT. 


257 


a mouthful of cooky. “ I say, Mallie, what ’s 
going on. You look sort of fixed up or some- 
thing. I do n’t know just what it is, but I feel 
something in my bones.” 

Mallie laughed. 

“I’m not much fixed up in this old dress, I 
guess,” she replied. “ I suppose it ’s because I ’ve 
crimped my hair that you think I look dressed 
up. Miss Rushton says she ’s got a very inter- 
esting book that she will read to us to-night, 
that ’s all !” 

“ Ho ! is that all ?” Tom said rather scorn- 
fully. “ I do n’t think that ’s much to fix up for.” 

“ Well, it ’s a good deal when you are shut up 
in the house all the time and never have any- 
thing to fix up for,” Mallie answered, not fret- 
fully, but with an unusually cheerful manner. 

“ That ’s a fact,” Tom said. “ Well, I hope 
you ’ll enjoy it as much as you think,” and he 
went up to his room, whistling cheerfully, till 
his mother called to him that he was making 
her head split with his noise. 

“ For a fact I do n’t see how Mallie ever 
stands it being shut up here with mother all the 
time,” he thought, as his whistle suddenly sub- 
sided. “ She does go on so about every little 
thing that she is enough to drive one crazy. I 
wonder what made Mallie give me a taste of her 
company manners. I don’t know when she has 

Silver Bow Is. 17 


258 


SILVER BOWLS. 


been so agreeable. I might have gone down on 
my knees for a cooky yesterday and she would 
only have told me to go and earn it, if I wanted 
one ; that I wasn’t worth my salt.” 

And Mallie in the meantime was thinking, 

“ Poor Tom ! It must be dreadfully discour- 
aging to be out of work as long as he has been. 
I suppose he really does try to get something, 
for even if he did n’t care about the rest of us, 
he would like to be earning some clothes for 
himself, I know. His shoes are all worn out.” 

It is actually a fact that this brother and sis- 
ter had not spoken so pleasantly to each other, 
nor had such kind thoughts of each other, for so 
long a time that they were both impressed by 
the pleasurable novelty of intercourse with each 
other that was not taunting or quarrelling. 
And all because a little bit of sunshine had 
come into Mallie’s life — so small a thing that it 
might seem impossible for it to have made much 
difference. 

It is always a gratification and an encourage- 
ment to know that one’s efforts are appreciated, 
and Louise could not fail to see how much pleas- 
ure she had given Mallie by her promise. The 
sharp features wore a happier look than Louise 
had ever seen upon them before, and Mallie’s 
very tones were changed. 

“ I will come down stairs after a little,” said 


THE COMMENCEMENT. 


259 


Louise, as she rose from the table. “ I have to 
write to mother to-night, but it wont take me 
more than half an hour.” 

“ All right,” Mallie answered cheerfully. 
“ It will take me as long as that to get cleared 
up and wash the dishes.” 

Louise wrote to her mother in a more cheer- 
ful frame of mind than usual. She always tried 
to make as little of all the hard things, and as 
much of all that was not hard, as possible ; but 
to-night it was not quite the effort that it had 
been. In her effort to bring happiness to others 
she was happier herself at once. When the let- 
ter was finished and sealed, she took “Little 
Women” in her hand and went down to the 
room where Mrs. Norris and Mallie were waiting 
for her. 

Tom had intended to go out, but he had a 
little curiosity to see what Miss Rushton was go- 
ing to read about, and so he lingered in his room 
with the door open, where he could hear the 
voice of the reader. 

“ It ’s very kind in you, I am sure, to think of 
reading to us a while,” Mrs. Norris said grate- 
fully, as Louise sat down. 

“ I hope you will like this book,” Louise an- 
swered. “ It is one that was always a great fa- 
vorite of mine, and I do not know but that you 
may have read it — ‘ Little Women.’ ” 


26 o 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ No, I have n’t read it,” Mrs. Norris said, 
and as it was new to Mallie too, as Louise had 
expected that it would be, she began to read. 

Those who have been accustomed to plenty 
of good literature can hardly imagine what a 
treat the bright story was to these two whose 
only reading matter was the daily paper and 
who knew nothing of the world of books. Even 
Louise, though she had thought she could imag- 
ine how much they would enjoy it, was touched 
by their absorbing interest. Tom was amazed 
to find that he wanted to hear the story too, 
after he had listened for some little time in 
his own room, and he brought a chair into the 
room and sat down softly where he could listen 
better. 

Louise had heard Tom reading to his mother 
from the paper, and she knew that he read re- 
markably well for a boy who did not make any 
pretensions to education, and after some time, 
when she began to grow tired, she turned around 
and offered him the book. 

“ Wont you read a little while, Tom, till my 
voice gets rested ?” she said. 

Tom flushed. 

Oh I can’t read,” he said. “ I ’d be willing 
enough if I could.” 

“ Why, yes, you can read,” Louise answered. 
“ I have often heard you.” 


THE COMMENCEMENT. 


261 


Tom took the book, although he had not very 
much confidence in his ability to read aloud 
well ; but as soon as he forgot his self-conscious- 
ness and a little feeling of shyness, he read very 
well, and turned over page after page, without 
thinking of anything but the interest of the 
story. 

He had just reached the end of a chapter 
when the clock struck nine, and Louise extended 
her hand for the book. 

“That will be enough for your mother for 
one night, I know,” she said. “ Thank you for 
reading so much, Tom. You are a very good 
reader. I would a great deal rather listen to 
you than read myself.” 

Tom looked pleased although he did not 
answer, and his mother with unusual gracious- 
ness said, 

“You did read that well, Tom. I had no 
idea you could do so well. It is the nicest story 
I ever heard. Miss Rushton. Somehow it all 
seems so real, just as though it had happened. 
I shall be in a hurry to hear the rest of it.” 

“ I will leave the book down stairs, and if 
Mallie has time she might read some more to 
you, without waiting for me,” Louise answered. 

“That will be nice,” Mallie answered, taking 
the book. “ I will hurry and get the work done 
up in the morning, mother, and then we will 


262 


SILVER BOWLS. 


have quite a little time to read before I get 
dinner.” 

For once the whole family were so interested 
in something that they forgot to quarrel, and 
after Louise had bidden them good night and 
gone up to her room, she could hear the voices 
below mingling in pleasant conversation. 

A very small thing, you may think, an hour 
spent in reading aloud ; but yet it was the be- 
ginning of better times in the Norris family. 


NEW PLANS. 


263 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

NEW PLANS. 

When Louise came down stairs the next 
morning, she stopped a moment to look through 
the door of the invalid’s room. 

Good morning,” she said pleasantly. “ I 
hope you did not get too tired last night to sleep 
well.” 

‘‘ I can’t remember when I have had such a 
good night,” said Mrs. Norris enthusiastically, 
the dismal drawl which usually characterized 
her tones quite forgotten. “ It did me so much 
good to get interested in that story, and then I 
had something nice to think of when I went to 
sleep, instead of lying awake and wondering 
what was going to become of things if I had to 
lie here for ever. I was just telling Mallie I am 
hungry for my breakfast, and I believe it is all 
along of that nice evening.” 

I am very glad you enjoyed it so much,” 
Louise responded heartily, sincerely pleased that 
she had succeeded in brightening the woman’s 
shut-in life, even although she could not feel 
much liking for her. “ I wanted to ask you 
something, and you must tell me frankly if it 
will not be perfectly agreeable to you. If some 


264 


SILVER BOWLS. 


of the girls at the store, not more than five of 
them at most, join me in a little reading' circle, 
would you be willing that Mallie should belong 
to it, and would it trouble you or be too much 
noise for you if it should meet here once in six 
weeks ?” 

“ Why, no, I should like it more than I can 
tell you,” Mrs. Norris answered. “ I think com- 
pany does me more good than most anything. 
But I should n’t think you would care about 
having Mallie in it. Not but what she would 
like it well enough, but I can’t see that she would 
be any help to the rest. No one ever seems to 
take to Mallie somehow, and she is no hand to 
make friends. I suppose it ’s her own fault, for 
when I was a girl I had plenty of friends, I tell 
her.” 

Louise always felt like losing her temper 
when she heard Mrs. Norris complain of Mallie 
or speak in a depreciating way of her, for she 
had begun to realize that with all that was un- 
pleasant about her, Mallie was unselfish and 
patient, sacrificing herself wholly to the invalid 
who appreciated it so little. 

I do n’t see what chance Mallie has to make 
any friends when she never goes out,” she said, 
trying to speak pleasantly. “ I am sure the 
girls will be very glad indeed to have her in the 
circle, and it will give her a chance to make ac- 


NEW PLANS. 265 

quaintances. I am glad you think it will not 
be too much for you.” 

Mallie was singing softly to herself as she 
stepped about the kitchen, preparing Louise’s 
breakfast. Tom had already eaten his, and was 
off to answer some advertisements that he 
hoped might give him something to do. 

While Louise was eating her breakfast she 
told Mallie of her plan of a reading circle com- 
posed of a few of the girls at the store, and asked 
her if she would not like to belong to it. As 
she had expected, Mallie was delighted at the 
invitation, and still more delighted to hear that 
it would in turn meet at her home, and that 
her mother had given her consent that it should. 

“You are so good to think of me at all,” she 
said gratefully. “ Nobody ever was as nice to 
me as you are.” 

Louise felt as she went on her way to the 
store that there were many blessings in her life 
which she had never realized enough to be 
grateful for them. Love had surrounded her 
from her birth, tender patience had shielded 
her and guided her feet, and the few words of 
kindness that Mallie was so grateful for were 
such a matter of course with Louise that she 
had never thought anything else possible. If 
she had been called to live Mallie’s life, with as 
little to encourage her to make the best of her- 


266 


SILVER BOWLS. 


self, she began to doubt whether she would have 
lived it as well. 

I really believe that I have fallen farther 
short of reaching my possibilities than she has, 
when everything is taken into consideration,” 
she thought. “ Poor Mallie ! I certainly mean 
to do all I can to make her happy while I am 
living here.” 

Louise had tact enough to realize that she 
must not propose the reading circle to the girls 
as a plan for their benefit solely. They would 
naturally resent her assumption that in any way 
she was superior to them, and she would frus- 
trate her own purpose unless she should speak 
of it as a plan by which she expected to benefit 
herself also. They were disposed to be very 
friendly, so it was not a hard matter to suggest 
forming a Home Culture Circle, and as the girls 
talked it over they became so enthusiastic over it 
that not one only, but three circles were formed, 
each one limited to seven members. At first 
they were somewhat afraid that they would be 
pledged to some course of instructive reading 
which they would not enjoy, but when they 
learned that they could select their own books, 
they were delighted with the scheme. They 
were to begin the next day to keep an ac- 
count of the books they read, and the number 
of pages, and at the end of the week they were 


NEW PLANS. 


267 

to hold their first meeting at Mrs. Norris’ house. 
Once a month the three circles agreed to meet 
together, and compare notes as to their prog- 
ress. 

Most of the girls did some reading, and even 
those who did not were willing to read for the 
sake of belonging to one of these circles. The 
idea of meeting at the different homes in suc- 
cession pleased them, and the plan became very 
popular as they talked it over. 

That afternoon Mr. Hardman was standing 
by Louise’s desk, looking over some papers, when 
one of the men who had charge of the wagon 
delivery came up and said something to him. 

“ I have stood enough of this nonsense,” Mr. 
Hardman answered angrily. “ When Davis 
comes back you can tell him that we wont want 
him any more. A boy that isn’t reliable is 
worse than no boy at all. I will look about at 
once for a boy to take his place, and we will do 
without till I get one. This is the fifth time 
that he has served us this way.” 

A few days before, this conversation would 
not have suggested anything to Louise, but now 
that she really wished to be as helpful as pos- 
sible to the Norris family, the remembrance of 
Tom, trudging about day after day from morn- 
ing until night to find a place to work, imme- 
diately occurred to her, and she spoke to Mr. 


268 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Hardman at once about him. She knew that he 
was about the age of the boy that was to be dis- 
charged, and she knew that he was quite strong 
enough for the work in the delivery depart- 
ment. 

“ Mr. Hardman, I think I know of a boy 
that would suit you,” she said. 

“Do you, Miss Rush ton ?” asked Mr. Hard- 
man. “ Who is he, and when could I see him ?” 

“ I think he could call this evening on you 
if you wish, or else early to-morrow morning in 
the store,” answered Louise. “ He is Mrs. 
Norris’ son, and I know he has been looking for 
work for some time, and, unless he has found 
a place to-day, has not been successful yet.” 

“ All right ; I will see him in the morning, 
and if he seems likely to suit he will get a good 
place,” Mr. Hardman said. “ If he is a good 
smart boy and knows how to work and is faith- 
ful, he will have a chance to rise to a better 
place in a few months.” 

Louise was almost as pleased as if she had 
met with some good fortune for herself, for she 
knew what a load of anxiety it would lift from 
Mallie’s mind, and she knew, too, how very 
closely the family had to economize to get along 
at all with only the small sum she paid for her 
board as an income. 

Mallie did wonders with it, and while she 


NEW PLANS. 


269 


gave her boarder quite as good food as she could 
have found at any boarding-house in the town 
for the sum she paid, and moreover far more 
carefully prepared, the rest of the family lived 
upon the very plainest and cheapest of viands. 

^The four dollars which Tom would receive from 
Mr. Hardman would be a very material help to 
the family, and would make them more comfort- 
able. Louise felt as if she would be more at 
ease herself when she knew that the others 
had the same food that she enjoyed. While 
she knew that Mallie gave her better than she 
could afford for the others, she did not make 
any comment upon it, for she knew it would 
only distress the girl, who was very anxious to 
do well by her boarder and make her as comfort- 
able as possible. 

Mallie was really the one who had to deny 
herself. Although Tom’s food was plain, yet he 
ate more than the rest, for a growing boy’s ap- 
petite is not easily satisfied ; and her mother had 
to have things daintily prepared, for her appe- 
tite at best was poor enough ; so Mallie often 
went really hungry, that Tom and her mother 
might both be as well provided for as possible 
with her slender means. 

As Louise was on her way home she met Tom, 
coming along with a discouraged look upon his 
face that told the tale of another day’s failure. 


270 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ Oh, Tom, I have such good news for you !” 
exclaimed Louise. 

“ What is it? ’ asked Tom, his face brighten- 
ing up a little. “ The best piece of news would 
be a chance to work, but I don’t think that’s 
ever coming to me.” 

“ That is just what I have to tell you,” Louise 
answered. “ I heard Mr. Hardman say he was 
going to look for a boy, and I spoke about you. 
I hope it is the kind of a place you will like.” 

“ There is no danger of my not liking it,” 
Tom replied. “ I am too thankful to get any- 
thing to do to care how hard it is or how little I 
am paid for it. I declare it is too good to be 
true. Miss Rush ton. I was just clean discour- 
aged, for they do n’t one of them know at home 
how hard I have tried to get something to do. I 
know it seems reasonable to think that if a boy 
wanted to work he could find something, but I 
do believe I have called at every store in this 
town, and I know I have answered every adver- 
tisement for weeks, and yet there never was any- 
thing that I could get.” 

“Mr. Hardman wants you to come and see 
him early in the morning about the place,” 
Louise said. “He said if you were faithful that 
there would be a chance of promotion in a few 
months.” 

“ I ’ll be promoted then,” said Tom. “ I tell 


NEW PLANS. 


271 


you I will stick at work harder than any one ever 
stuck to fun, I shall be so glad to have it. Do 
you know what they pay, Miss Rushton ?” 

“ Four dollars a week,” Louise answered, 
wondering whether it would seem much to Tom, 
or whether he had expected to earn more. 

Do they really?” asked Tom, in delight. 
“ Well, to think that I should have got such a 
place as that when I had just about given up ! I 
felt as if I wanted to go into a hole and pull the 
hole after me, I was so discouraged when I met 
you. I can’t thank you enough, Miss Rushton, 
and I do n’t believe you can guess what a differ- 
ence it will make.” 

‘‘ You need n’t thank me,” Louise responded. 
“ I was very glad that I happened to know about 
it. If Mr. Hardman had not been near the desk 
when he spoke about discharging the other boy, 
I might not have known anything about it.” 

Mallie was delighted when she heard the 
news, and so was Mrs. Norris, and the latter for- 
got to utter any doleful prophecies about the 
certainty of Tom not being able to give satisfac- 
tion, or the probability of his being laid off very 
soon, with which she might be expected to sea- 
son the pleasurable announcement. 

Altogether Louise had a comfortable sense 
of helpfulness that made her happier than she 
had been for some time. It was much that she 


272 


SILVER BOWLS. 


had been able to brighten Mallie’s dreary life 
ever so little, and that she had been able to in- 
fuse a new interest into the invalid’s mind, and 
now that she had been able to put Tom in the 
way of getting the work ^hich was so much of a 
necessity to the family, she was very much 
pleased with the result of her effort in their 
behalf. 

All this was humble service, it is true, but is 
anything too small to do which helps and bright- 
ens the life of another? If we disdain the min- 
istry of silver bowls, we cannot do the work of 
some more costly vessel, unless it is that which 
we have been appointed to do. When every 
one in the world shall think it well worth while 
to say and do anything, no matter how small, 
that shall be helpful, then this sad old world will 
forget its sorrow and smile with joy. Surely 
the life is not worth living which is self-centred 
and which fails to benefit others. When we 
have learned to be content with the ministry of 
little things, we shall be fitted for promotion to 
a higher ministry. 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


273 


CHAPTER XXV. 

IMPROVEMENTS. 

Life began to take on a very mucli brighter 
aspect in the Norris family. Tom went happily 
off to see about his place the next morning, 
feeling more independent and manly than he 
had for months. Mallie was happy at the 
thought of having enough to provide for the 
family needs, and Mrs. Norris could not fail to 
be infected with the general good^humor. 

Mr. Hardman was pleased with Tom’s ap- 
pearance and answers, and engaged him to begin 
work at once, and the boy found that hard work 
was not half as fatiguing as the aimless wander- 
ing about town in search of work which had 
been his occupation for so long. 

That evening something quite out of the 
usual order of things occurred. The new minis- 
ter and his wife called upon Louise, concerning 
whom Mr. Martin had received a letter from her 
home pastor, and in looking up her boarding- 
place, he discovered that Miss Malvina Norris 
was one of the members of his church, although 
he had never seen her at any of the services 
since his arrival and had not heard of her 
through any one. 

silver Bowie. I 8 


274 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Louise enjoyed their call very much ; they 
were so cordial and had so many things in sym- 
pathy with her, that it seemed almost like seeing 
one of the dear home folks. She could never 
feel like a stranger after so cordial a welcome 
from her pastor and his wife. Mr. Martin asked 
her how she liked her new home, and made 
several inquiries about the Norris family, with 
whom he wished to become acquainted. Louise 
spoke of them very differently from what she 
might have done the week before, v/hen she had 
considered them merely as very disagreeable 
and uncongenial people with whom it was a 
hardship to live. She did full justice to Mallie’s 
devotion to her mother, and even spoke pleas- 
antly of Mrs. Norris herself. Just then the 
front door opened and Tom, never thinking that 
there might possibly be company in the parlor, 
a very rare thing in this family, came cheer- 
fully into the house, with a good deal more noise 
than was necessary, whistling like a blackbird 
and shutting the door behind him with a decided 
bang. 

Mrs. Norris thought of the company in the 
parlor as soon as she heard Tom’s step, and im- 
mediately resolved to give him a severe lecture 
for his boisterous entrance as soon as they should 
have departed. She never carried out this in- 
tention however. 


IMPROVEMENTS. 275 

Is that Tom? I should like to meet him,” 
said Mr. Martin, and Louise called, 

“ Tom ! Will you come in here, please ?” 

The boy came in, his cheeks ruddy with the 
wind, his eyes shining, and although his hair 
and necktie would have shocked his mother, yet 
he was a very attractive-looking boy, and he had 
no time for embarraswsment, Mr. Martin was so 
cordial in his greeting. 

“ So this is one of my boys !” he exclaimed, 
shaking hands heartily. 

By the way, I wonder whether people always 
realize what magic there is in a warm clasp of 
the hands. It often says more than words. 

“ You must excuse me for not having hunted 
you up before, but you know I am a new-comer, 
and it takes longer than you would suppose to 
get acquainted. Whose class are you in at Sun- 
day-school ? Perhaps that will help me to place 
you.” 

Now if any one had asked Tom ten minutes 
ago what class he was in, he would have replied 
very decidedly that Sunday-school was only for 
“ little kids,” not for boys of his size, and that he 
did not belong to any class and did not propose 
to either. Being taken for a Sunday - school 
scholar would have seemed like a huge joke to 
him ; but just now, with that kindly face looking 
into his own, and his hand still tingling with 


SILVER BOWLS. 


276 

that hearty grasp, he rather wished that he could 
call himself a member of the school, and not 
confess that it had been two years since he had 
been within the church. 

** I quit going some time ago,” he said reluc- 
tantly. “ I got sort of big to go to school, and 
when our teacher gave up the class I quit going, 
and never got into the way of it again.” 

“ Oh well, it wont take you long to get up 
your interest again,” Mr. Martin said cordially. 
“ I know that when a class has to lose its teach- 
er it is a temptation to drop out. But as to be- 
ing too big, why you mustn’t think that. You 
are not as big as I am, and I do n’t expect ever 
to outgrow the Sunday-school. If you are not in 
any class, I think my wife will want to claim 
you, for she has a class of young men about your 
age.” 

*‘Yes, I have room for one more scholar,” 
Mrs. Martin said. “ So I shall hope to see you 
next Sunday. If you would n’t mind stopping 
at my house we will walk round together. I live 
only two doors from the church, so it wont be 
out of your way. Will you come ?” 

‘Wes ’m,” Tom answered, feeling very much 
flattered by the invitation to enter her class. It 
would be a very different thing to stop and go 
to Sunday-school with her from what it would 
be to go alone and not know into what class he 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


277 


would be put and whether he would like the 
teacher or not. It was delightful to be claimed 
by the new minister as belonging to him, for 
Tom had felt that he did not belong to any one 
and was not wanted anywhere, even at home. 

While Louise and Mrs. Martin were talking, 
the minister and Tom began to get acquainted, 
as Tom would not have believed he could ever 
get acquainted with a minister, and the warm- 
hearted boy yielded at once to the charm of the 
genial manner and cordial interest. 

Mr. Martin had already expressed a wish to 
meet the rest of the family, and Louise had told 
Mallie of his desire. Mallie was preparing the 
sick-room for the visitors, and Mrs. Norris was 
excited over the prospect of seeing the new min- 
ister. 

“ There, do I look all right ?” she asked 
rather nervously, as Mallie gave her hair a final 
touch and put the little invalid shawl about her 
shoulders. 

“Yes, you 11 do now,” Mallie answered, step- 
ping back to see if the bed clothing was perfectly 
smooth and everything about the room in order. 
Then, with a glance at herself in the glass, she 
went down stairs. Louise and Tom did not go 
up with the minister and his wife, for the room 
was too small to hold so much company com- 
fortably. 


2/8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Well, I did not think a minister could be so 
nice,” said Tom approvingly as they were left to 
themselves. “ And I think his wife is as nice as 
he is. I sha’ n’t mind going to Sunday-school if 
I am to be in her class. Say, are you going to 
Sunday-school, Miss Rushton?” 

“ Oh yes, I shall begin next Sunday,” Louise 
answered promptly. “ I wish Mallie could go 
too. I think she would enjoy it, and she has so 
little chance to go anywhere it does seem as if it 
might be planned somehow. Can’t you think 
of someway?” 

Tom considered a moment. It was some- 
thing new for him to plan for his sister’s com- 
fort or pleasure, but new things were in order 
just now in the Norris household. 

“Why, yes,” he answered after a. little 
thought. “ There is one of the neighbors who 
often runs in on Sunday to see mother, and I 
am sure if I told her that Mallie would like to 
go out she would just as lief come at Sunday- 
school time as any other. It does n’t make any 
difference to her when she comes, and she has n’t 
any family, so she can do just as she likes about 
everything. That will be just the ticket.” 

“ I am so glad,” Louise answered. “ We will 
enjoy going I am sure, and it will be so pleasant 
to go together.” 

She meant the words, for she had begun to 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


279 


take so much interest in the Norris family that 
every day she discovered some qualities that 
were attractive about Tom and Mallie. 

“ I heard Mallie say that you have a brother 
about my size,” Tom said. 

^‘Yes, I think he must be just about your 
age,” Louise answered. “ He is studying to be 
a doctor, and I am very proud of him, he is such 
a clever fellow. I do n’t know what girls do 
that do n’t have any brothers. I miss Fred so 
much all the time.” 

“ I didn’t know that girls ever took so much 
stock in their brothers,” Tom said, in evident 
surprise at the affection in Louise’s tones. “I 
know Mallie would n’t miss me if I went away. 
She and mother always get crazy when I am 
around. I guess people mostly think that boys 
are a nuisance.” 

“ Do n’t you suppose it depends somewhat on 
the boys?” asked Louise with a smile. “ I know 
Mallie is very fond of you, for she does ever so 
many things for you that she would n’t do if she 
did n’t love you ; but if you wont mind my say- 
ing so, I think it is the way of teasing her you 
have that puts her out of temper and makes her 
say things she would n’t say otherwise. Just for 
the sake of the experiment, you try being just 
as pleasant to her as you know how for a week, 
and see what a difference it will make. I know 


28 o 


SILVER BOWLS. 


you are only in fun with your teasing, but Mal- 
lie is tired, and being shut up in the house all 
the time makes her nervous, and so she takes it 
all in earnest.” 

“ Well, just to see what will happen, I have 
got half a mind to try,” Tom answered. “ I 
know she does have a lonesome time of it ; I 
don’t know a girl anywhere that has as mean a 
time. I guess by way of turning over a new 
leaf I will go down and get the kindling ready 
for morning without waiting for her to fuss 
about it.” 

Whistling cheerfully he started off, and Lou- 
ise, listening to his steps as he went down to the 
cellar, was self-reproached as she thought how 
easily influenced the boy was, and how much 
she might have done before to make this home- 
life a little happier if she had not been so 
selfish. 

In the meantime Mallie and her mother were 
enjoying the visitors’ call as much as Louise 
had done. Mrs. Martin was as cordial and 
cheery as her husband, and it was impossible 
for any one to be depressed or listless where 
she was. She sat down by the bed and ques- 
tioned Mrs. Norris with real interest as to her 
illness. Now when you remember that Mrs. 
Norris had never heard any one else praise 
either of her children, and had never com- 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


281 


mended them for anything herself, you can 
perhaps imagine how her breath was fairly 
taken away with astonishment when Mrs. Mar- 
tin said, “With all your trials, Mrs. Norris, you 
are certainly blessed in having such dear chil- 
dren, I quite admire Tom, he is such a hand- 
some, bright-faced boy ; and I must tell you I 
have claimed him for my Sunday-school class 
already, as he said he was not a member of any 
other. I am so very fond of boys, and I know 
that I shall find him a very pleasant addition to 
my class. And your daughter is a wonder to 
me. I never heard of a girl as young as she is 
being capable of taking charge of the house and 
an invalid besides, and then doing that work for 
the box-factory that you were speaking about. 
I know what a comfort she is to you. You must 
be very proud of her.” 

It seems almost too strange for belief that it 
took a stranger to put Mallie in her real light 
to her mother — the one who, you would have 
thought, would have been the first to appreciate 
her. Mrs. Norris colored as she remembered 
that she had rarely sweetened Mallie’s hard life 
with any expressed approval, had never even 
been in the habit of thanking her for the innu- 
merable services that she rendered her every 
day as a matter of course. 

“ Mallie is a good girl,” she answered, with a 


282 


SILVER BOWLS. 


new feeling of affection stirring within her 
heart. Down in the very depths of her heart 
she had undoubtedly an instinct of affection for 
her children, but it had been so smothered and 
overgrown that she had hardly been conscious 
of it, and they certainly had never suspected its 
existence. It was a very hopeful sign of com- 
ing happiness for the household when in any 
way the members of that family could be 
brought to recognize each other’s good quali- 
ties. 

The minister and his wife did not make a 
very long call in the sick-room, lest they should 
tire Mrs. Norris ; but before they left, Mr. Mar- 
tin asked, “ Would n’t you like me to have a 
word of prayer with you before we go, Mrs. 
Norris?” 

Mrs. Norris was too surprised to say any- 
thing. If she had spoken she would perhaps 
have told Mr. Martin that prayer “ was not in 
her line but he took her silence for consent, 
and kneeling down by the bedside commended 
this family to God’s love and care in simple, 
earnest language. Mrs. Norris listened with a 
half-frightened, half-comforted feeling. She had 
never been prayed for or with before in her life, 
and it seemed to her as if God would know 
about her for the first time, now that she had 
been specially commended to him. She was not 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


283 

sure whether she wanted to have him know 
about her or not, yet there was something that 
stirred her heart as it had never been stirred 
before, at the thought of the Heavenly Father 
being asked to care for her as one of his chil- 
dren, and to give her patience and grace to 
bear her illness. She had never even tried to 
be patient before ; and as for asking God to help 
her, that had never entered her thoughts. 

“ Now good-by,” said Mr. Martin, as he took 
her limp thin hand in his strong grasp. “ Re- 
member that although it has taken longer than 
I could have wished to get acquainted, I am 
your pastor, and will come to see you as of- 
ten as I can ; and if you should wish to see 
me for anything, or if there is any way in 
which I can be helpful to you, you must let me 
know.” 

Perhaps no pastor ever won hearts more 
thoroughly in one call. If the Norris family 
had considered themselves members of a con- 
gregation, or had ever had a pastor before, it 
might not have been so much to them, but the 
little tone of triumph in Mallie’s voice expressed 
the feelings of the whole family when she said, 
after she had come up from the door, 

“ I think our pastor is the pleasantest man I 
ever saw, don’t you, mother ?” 

“ Yes, and his wife ’s nice, too,” Mrs. Norris 


284 


SILVER BOWLS. 


answered. Then moved by a new impulse to 
give Mallie pleasure, she went on, 

And you ought to have heard her talking 
about you, Mallie. She seemed to think that 
you were a perfect wonder to take care of me 
and the house and all the rest that you do. She 
said I must be very proud of you ; and I am, too, 
Mallie,” she added with a little effort. 

It really is possible to get so in the habit 
of saying only disagreeable things that it re- 
quires a very great effort to say anything kind. 
Then Mallie did a very strange thing. She 
threw herself on her knees by the bed, and bury- 
ing her face in the clothes, burst into tears. 

“Why, Mallie, what is the matter?” asked 
her mother in surprise. “ I should have thought 
you would have liked to know that, instead of 
its making you feel bad.” 

“ I don’t know what makes me cry, ” sobbed 
Mallie. “ It is n’t because I feel bad ; but I 
never had any one say much that was nice about 
me before, and it seems so good somehow. I 
never thought that they could like me. I do get 
discouraged, knowing how homely and stupid 
and cross I am, and it just seems as if I could 
be different if people would only give me a 
chance.” 

Mrs. Norris would have liked to put out her 
hand and rest it upon Mallie’s head, but she 


IMPROVEMENTS. 


285 


had never been demonstrative even when her 
children were tiny babies, and she could not get 
over the strange awkwardness that the idea of 
any movement of affection would cause her. 
Her voice was softer however as she said sooth- 
ingly, 

“Well, you mustn’t go on that way, Mallie. 
You are as nice as anybody, and there a’n’t 
many girls would be as good a daughter as you 
are.” 

These words of praise from her mother were 
like food to Mallie’s hungry heart, and if she too 
had not been so unused to demonstrations she 
would have laid her head on her mother’s shoul- 
der and left her heartache and sore, hurt feel- 
ings there for ever. I wish they might have 
nestled down together, and drawn as close to- 
gether as a mother and daughter should always 
be, but the repression of years is not to be lightly 
overcome, and they had gone a long distance on 
the right road already. Even this would have 
been impossible to Mrs. Norris a week ago. 

Tom had brought up the kindlings, and then 
under the impulse of his new resolution to try 
to be agreeable for a week, he laid the fire for 
morning and closed the shutters for Mallie. He 
was naturally obliging, and would have done it 
for any one else, but it was so out of the usual 
order of things to assist at home that it was de- 


286 


SILVER BOWLS. 


cidedly turning over a new leaf to do anything 
of his own accord to lighten Mallie’s burdens, 
and he wondered what she would say. 

As the clock struck nine Mallie jumped up, 
and dashing away her tears went down to the 
kitchen to get things ready for the night. There 
were no kindlings to be seen, and her first im- 
pulse was to call angrily to Tom and ask him 
why he had forgotten his work ; but the new de- 
sire which had crept into her heart to be more 
lovable made her check the words and resolve 
to pass it over in silence. It was a rare thing 
for Tom to forget it, and she would say nothing 
about it this once. Taking up the basket to go 
down stairs herself, she saw a little end of a 
shaving sticking through the crevice between 
the lids, and lifting up the covers she found 
that he had prepared the fire for morning. 

“Well, I never!” she exclaimed, as she re- 
placed the lid. “What is going to happen 
next ?” To think of her mother saying that she 
was proud of her, and then, even more wonder- 
ful, that Tom should of his own accord do some- 
thing to save her trouble ! 

“ I will get up early and make him some hot 
biscuit for breakfast,” she resolved, with a little 
glow of gratitude in her heart. 

She would hardly have known what to say to 
Tom if she had tried to thank him, but she made 


IMPROVEMENTS. 28/ 

the biscuits, and Tom ate them and understood 
as well as if she had spoken. 

It was quite an improvement, both of them 
reflected, to try to make each other happy in- 
stead of quarrelling all the time, and both were 
so well pleased with the result of their efforts 
that there was an unspoken resolution formed to 
keep on in this new way. 


288 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXVL 

WIDENING CIRCLES. 

The work in the store was growing easier all 
the time, for it was largely a matter of practice, 
and Louise soon found that she no longer dread- 
ed the busy part of the day as she had at first. 
The days did not seem as interminably long, and 
although her heartache and loneliness were ever 
present, yet she was becoming interested in 
things about her, and the carrying out of the 
plans she had formed helped her not a little. 

There was a very good public library in the 
place, and now that so many of the girls were 
reading with an idea of reporting their books to 
the club, they had a little pride in reading some- 
thing better worth while than the trash which 
too often they had been perfectly satisfied with. 
Their books also gave them something better to 
talk about than the silly gossip which had occu- 
pied their attention before, and the looking for- 
ward to the weekly meeting was a greater pleas- 
ure to the girls than Louise had imagined. 

There is always a satisfaction in self-improve- 
ment, and although many of the books that they 
selected from the library were not of the best 
kind, yet they were enough better than the kind 


WIDENING CIRCLES. 289 

they had chosen before to give them a certain 
amount of self-respect. 

Friday evening was the time that the club of 
which Louise was the leader was to meet, and 
Mallie was as excited over the event as if it was 
something of far more importance. She had 
finished reading the first part of “ Little Wo- 
men ” to her mother, and was very much pleased 
that she would have so much to report. There 
was not very much to do in way of preparation 
for the club, but the little that there was to do 
Mallie did most vigorously. Neat as she always 
kept the house, she gave it an extra cleaning, 
and wished with all her heart that she had ever 
so little in the way of ornaments or the pretty 
decoration which is so dear to every girl’s heart. 

This house looks like me,” she said, as she 
stood and looked about, to see that nothing had 
by chance been left undone, “ it ’s so stiff and 
prim and plain. Never mind, perhaps I wont 
be so always; and perhaps by-and-by, if Tom 
keeps his place, I can get some pretty things for 
the house.” 

By eight o’clock the girls had all assembled, 
Louise and Mallie, May Hughes, Frances Bailey, 
Nellie Bateman, Alice Newton, and Florence 
Cook. Twenty-three hundred pages were re- 
ported as being the sum of the united reading 
of the club during the week, and the girls were 

Silvp.r Bowls. JQ 


290 


SILVER BOWLS. 


surprised to find liow much it had aggregated. 
With the exception of two of the books, they 
had all been novels, and not by the best authors ; 
but Louise began to think that their selection 
had been made merely because they did not 
know about any other books, for when Mallie 
spoke of her enjoyment of Miss Alcott’s book, 
all the girls were anxious to know the name and 
wondered whether they would be able to get it 
out of the library. 

Louise promised them that she would lend 
her copy to each of them in turn if they could 
not get it in the library, and they all wanted to 
begin it at once. Louise read one of Miss Al- 
cott’s short stories aloud to them, and they were 
charmed with her style and with the simplicity 
and sweetness of the story. 

As a matter of fact they did not care so much 
for the sentimental love stories over which they 
generally spent their spare time ; but not one of 
the girls had any one to advise her about her 
reading, and they did not know what a field of 
delightful literature was open before them. 
They were not any of them girls who would 
care enough about mental improvement to take 
up a course of study, or even of very intellectual 
reading, but they all had sufficiently good sense 
to prefer bright, healthful books to improbable 
novels. 


WIDENING CIRCLES. 


291 


After she had finished reading, one of the 
girls suggested that Alice Newton should sing 
them a song. She did not require much urging, 
as she was used to entertaining her friends with 
her voice ; and not at all embarrassed by the lack 
of an instrumental accompaniment, she rose 
and sang ‘‘Ye banks and braes of Bonnie Boon,” 
in a sweet girlish voice, somewhat marred by 
little affectations, which she had evidently picked 
up from professional singers, and which she in- 
dulged in wherever she thought it would add 
to her performance. 

Her companions enjoyed the song and as soon 
as she paused asked her for another, a song 
which happened to be the popular favorite just 
then. 

She complied, and all the girls joined in the 
chorus, ’their voices blending very sweetly to- 
gether, although they had no musical training. 

At ten o’clock Nellie Bateman, who was evi- 
dently the leader, rose to go, and the others all 
followed her example at once. 

“ We ’ve had a real nice time,” said Nellie, 
and Florence Cook chimed in, 

“ Yes, and we ’ve had no young men either. 
Folks say girls can’t have a good time without 
a young man, but I always say there ’s no sense 
in that. We have just as good a time without 
them any day.” 


292 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ Yes, but they ’re nice to have around when 
it comes to ice - cream and caramels,” laughed 
May Hughes, and there was a chorus of mer- 
riment at this speech. 

“You are all to come to my house next time, 
remember,” said Alice Newton. “ You must 

i 

be sure to come too. Miss N orris, and we ’re 
much obliged to you for telling us about that 
book.” 

Only the knowledge that she was trying to 
help these girls to a higher form of pleasure 
than they had known hitherto had made the 
evening pleasant to Louise ; and when at last 
they had gone, chattering away like a flock of 
merry sparrows as they went down the street, 
she was surprised to see Mallie’s eyes shining 
like stars and her face bright with pleasant ex- 
citement. 

“ Oh was n’t that nice ?” exclaimed Mallie. 
“ I think those girls are all nice ; not like you, 
though,” she added, half jealous lest she should 
seem to compare them to Louise, who was her 
bright particular star. “ But I have n’t been 
with girls before for the longest time, and it did 
seem so nice. Oh you are so kind. Miss Rush- 
ton ! The whole house seems different somehow, 
and it ’s all just because of you. Do you suppose 
I can ever be in the least like you?” 

Louise smiled. “ You must try to be a great 


WIDENING CIRCLES. 


293 


deal better than I am,” she answered. “ I am 
not all that you think I am,” she went on, more 
gravely. “ I am trying to do right, but I fail a 
great many times, and I am often selfish and 
thoughtless; but there is a perfect example to 
follow, you know.” 

“ Whose example ?” asked Mallie, evidently 
not understanding what Louise meant. 

It had always been very hard for Louise to 
say very much about religious matters, and to 
“ preach ” to any one else was peculiarly hard ; 
but it did seem to her that here was a chance 
to help this girl, who admired her so much, to 
look at a higher model. If, through her love 
for Louise, she could be drawn nearer the ten- 
der love of Christ, what a terrible thing it would 
be to fail to help her because the lips which 
had been consecrated to Him were reluctant to 
speak for Him ! 

Louise slipped her arm around Mallie’s waist. 
‘‘ I am sure you know,” she said gently. “ When 
you became a Christian, you know you promised 
to try to walk in Christ’s steps and follow his 
example. If you try to copy his followers, you 
will copy their mistakes too ; but if you try to fol- 
low Christ’s example it will always be perfect.” 

“ But I don’t know how,” Mallie answered, 
with a little quiver in her voice. 

Ever since Mr. Martin’s prayer the other 


294 


SILVER BOWLS. 


evening she had realized how far she was from 
loving and realizing God as he did, and as per- 
haps all other church members did. 

“ Oh, Miss Rush ton, you know I am a church 
member, but I do n’t believe I ought to be at 
all. I do n’t love God as I ought ; I am only 
afraid of him; and I don’t know how to be 
good or to do good. Tell me, do you really be- 
lieve in him ?” 

“ Indeed I do,” Louise aUvSwered, wishing 
that she might know what to say to bring Mallie 
so close to her loving Heavenly Father that she 
could rest in his love. It had not been hard for 
her to see that Mallie was only living the name 
of Christian, and that her church membership 
did not mean the least comfort or help to her 
for some reason or another. Life could be so 
different to this overworked, anxious girl if she 
only knew how to love and trust. 

I will try to tell you just how I feel,” she said, 
drawing Mallie into the sitting-room and siting 
down beside her on the lounge, still retaining 
her hand. A little prayer went up from the 
depths of her heart that she might have words 
given her to utter, and that no thought of self 
should interfere. 

“ I am just as sure of God’s love as I am of 
my mother’s or as I was of my dear father’s,” 
and Louise’s voice quivered as she uttered the 


WIDENING CIRCLES. 


295 


beloved name. “ It seems just as real and just 
as close to me. I try to do what I think will 
please God, not because I am afraid of him, but 
because I love him so much. I want to do in 
everything just as he would have me do ; and 
though I sometimes forget, and very often do 
things that are wrong, yet I am sorry from the 
very bottom of my heart, and ask to be forgiven. 
If I had not my Heavenly Father to go to in all 
my troubles, I think my heart would break.” 

“ You wont mind my asking, will you ?” said 
Mallie shyly, “ but please tell me how do you 
pray?” 

Louise could not understand the question. 
It could not be possible that Mallie did not know 
how to pray. 

“ I do n’t think I know what you mean, Mal- 
lie,” she said gently. “ I would tell you willingly 
if I understood.” 

“ Well, I mean what you say when you pray,” 
Mallie explained. “ I always say my prayers at 
night, but it is n’t much help or comfort or any- 
thing else to me, and I was wondering whether 
you said anything different from what I do, and 
I thought perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling 
me what it was, so I could say it too.” 

Of course I always say the Lord’s prayer,” 
Louise answered. ‘‘After that I always tell 
God just as I would my father or mother all the 


SILVER BOWLS. 


296 

tilings that I am troubled about, or that I want, 
and ask him to help me and keep me near him. 
What are your prayers, Mallie 

I always say ‘ Our Father,’ and ‘ Now I 
lay me,’ ” said Mallie. “ I do n’t know anything 
else to pray. Oh I wish you would teach me, if 
it really does help you so much. I would like 
to be better if I only knew how. I do n’t know. 
No one ever told me, and I thought there was n’t 
anything more to know. I am so miserable, 
and perhaps I could be happier if I was only 
better.” 

Why do n’t you tell God just as you have 
told me?” asked Louise gently. “ No one in all 
the world loves you as he does, Mallie, and he 
is ready to listen to you the moment you go to 
him. Tell him that you want to be better, that 
you want to love him and please him, and ask 
him to help you, and you will find that the an- 
swer will come.” 

But Mallie shook her head. “ I can’t,” she 
said. “ I wish I could, for it is just what I do want 
so much. I would like to be good, and I know I 
can’t be by myself, for everything is against me ; 
but if he could help me to be good, perhaps then 
things would be different. Oh I wish some one 
had told me ever so long ago how to pray. It is 
too late now.” 

“ No, it is not too late,” said Louise. “ Do n’t 


WIDENING CIRCLES. 297 

wait any longer, Mallie dear, but just now tell 
God all about it, and he will help you as no 
other friend can, and you will be so much hap- 
pier.” 

Still Mallie shook her head. “ No, no, I 
can’t,” she said, with tears. “ I can’t believe 
that God loves me. I am afraid of him. I wish 
you would pray for me.” 

It was the first time that Louise had ever 
been asked to pray for any one, and the first 
selfish thought was that she could not possibly 
do it. It would be too hard a thing to do. She 
had sacrificed her feelings a good deal already in 
talking so freely to Mallie, and she could not do 
any more. But another thought came to her 
just then that banished the first. It seemed like 
such a cross to pray with this poor girl who was 
feeling her way so blindly towards the Saviour, 
and who could not believe in the tenderness 
that was ready to catch her faintest whisper; 
but how heavy would her cross be if she was 
not allowed to pray for her; if she was bur- 
dened with anxiety about this precious soul, 
and her lips were sealed ! Would there be any 
comparison in the hardship? Surely it was a 
very little thing to do for the Saviour who had 
purchased her with his blood, to put into words 
the prayer that this discouraged heart was long- 
ing to offer. 


298 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ We will pray together, Mallie,” she said ; 
and kneeling side by side, with Mallie’s hand 
clasped in her own, she carried the girl’s burden 
of unhappiness to a throne of grace. 

It was as simple a prayer as if she were speak- 
ing to a friend beside her, and just as Mallie 
had told her, so she told her Heavenly Father of 
the desires to be better and the longing for 
more love that filled Mallie’s heart. She asked 
for help for them both that they might live 
nearer to Christ, and then she prayed that the 
way might be made very plain for Mallie, and 
that she might believe in the tenderness of her 
Heavenly Father’s love. 

And Mallie, lingering on her knees, uttered 
her first real prayer with trembling voice : 

^‘Oh, God, if you do really love me, please 
make me feel as if you did, and make me love 
you, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” 

Need I tell you that the answer was not long 
delayed ? As if God had been waiting patiently 
for her to come to him, and had the answer 
ready almost before the prayer vras uttered, a 
new strange sense of peace stole into the heart 
that had been so hard and bitter. Mallie did 
not understand the change ; she only knew that 
her burden seemed gone, and she was loth to 
rise from her knees lest she might find the old 
burden waiting for her again. 


WIDENING CIRCLES. 299 

“ Perhaps I should never have known any 
difference if you had not come here,” she said 
presently to Louise. “ I might have kept on 
being just as wicked and miserable and cross, 
and never tried to be any better.” 

I am very glad that God has let me help 
you,” said Louise. “ Does n’t that show you 
how much he loved you, that he planned all this 
that I might come here ? Now this is what I 
mean when I say that God takes care of us like 
an earthly father. If your father knew that you 
needed something he would try to get it for 
you. God knows our needs, and he provides for 
them just in the same way. You said you were 
worried about money and wanted to find some 
way to earn some, and then I was sent to you, 
and it was all planned so carefully. It was 
almost by accident, you might say, that you 
heard about me. God knew, too, that you would 
have other wants, and so it may be for that he 
let me come to you, that I might tell you how 
he loves you and try to help you find him.” 

Do you really suppose that ?” Mallie asked 
wonderingly. “ God does n’t think about those 
little things, does he ?” 

“If a sparrow does not fall to the ground 
without his knowledge, we must believe that 
even the smallest things of our life are ordered 
by him,” Louise answered reverently. “It is 


300 


SILVER BOWLS. 


such a comforting thought, Mallie dear. One 
can bear anything when it is part of God’s plan 
for one’s life.” 

When Mallie was ready for bed she knelt 
down and in broken sentences prayed as she 
had never prayed before, and even while she 
was on her knees she knew that her prayer had 
been answered, and that with all her sinfulness 
and neglect of him she was God’s child and he 
loved her; and what love meant to Mallie’s 
desolate heart perhaps few can understand. 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 


301 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

SILENT INFLUENCE. 

It may seem a very little work, scarcely 
worthy to be called service, this effort to bring 
harmony and brightness out of the discord and 
shadow of a humble home, the endeavor to 
help those about her in whatever way she 
might ; and yet now, as in the days of ministry 
in the temple, the silver bowls were quite as 
needful as those of more precious metal, and the 
little things that came to Louise’s share to do 
were as important as the greater things en- 
trusted to those of greater talents. 

A helpful writer has said : “ In one of Mu- 
rillo’s pictures in the Louvre he shows us 
the interior of a convent kitchen ; but doing 
the work there are not mortals in old dresses, 
but beautiful white -winged angels. One se- 
renely puts the kettle on the fire to boil, and 
one is lifting up a pail of water with heavenly 
grace, and one is at the kitchen dresser reach- 
ing up for plates, and I believe there is a little 
cherub running about and getting in the way 
and trying to help. What the old monkish 
legend that it represented is, I do not know, but 
as the painter puts it to you on his canvas, all 


302 


SILVER BOWLS. 


are so busy and working with such a will, and 
so refining the work as they do it, that some- 
times you forget that pans are pans and pots 
are pots, and only think of the angels and how 
very natural and beautiful kitchen work is — 
just what the angels would do, of course. It is 
the angel aim and standard in a work that con- 
secrates it. He who aims for perfectness in a 
trifle is trying to do that trifle holily. The trier 
wears the halo, and therefore the halo grows as 
quickly round the brows of peasant as of king. 
This aspiration to do perfectly — is it not reli- 
gion practicalized ? No need then of being 
‘ great ’ to share that aspiration and that pres- 
ence.” The smallest roadside pool has its water 
from heaven and its gleam from the sun, and 
can hold the stars in its bosom as well as the 
great ocean. Even so the humblest man or wo- 
man can live splendidly. That is the royal 
truth we need to believe, you and I, who have 
no “ mission ” and no sphere to move in. 

Louise had no great sphere. She had no 
special talents or gifts, but by trying to do per- 
fectly whatever came in her way, and not de- 
spising the little things of life, she was exerting 
a wider influence than she would ever know of 
in this world. We cannot measure our influ- 
ence for good or evil as we can a marketable 
commodity. It cannot be measured or weighed, 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 


303 


nor can we see the outermost circles of its ex- 
tent. Perhaps if we could, we should walk 
more carefully, and, for the sake of others whom 
we might help, be more watchful that it should 
be only for good. 

An angel might have thought it a blessed 
mission to be sent down to earth to help that 
home which was devoid of all the true spirit of 
homelikeness, but many a one of us in human 
guise would have thought it scarcely worth 
while. I do not mean that Louise was perfect ; 
far from it. It was only that, as she would have 
said herself, she did try, and in spite of failures 
tried again and again. There were days when 
all that was uncongenial in her associates was 
of more importance to her than the possibilities 
of being of use to them, when Mrs. Norris’ 
fretfulness and unreasonable complaints of Mal- 
lie made her feel as if she would never try again 
to brighten the long hours in the sick-room, 
when even Mallie seemed so lacking in all that 
was attractive that she could not care much 
whether she helped her or not. 

There were hours when she felt as if she 
could not go on living without her father’s lov- 
ing words to cheer her and his strong arms to 
shield her. It was so unutterably desolate with- 
out him. Perhaps it was a little, a very little, 
less hard to bear than if she had never been 


304 


SILVER BOWLS. 


separated from him at all before the long sepa- 
ration which was to be the last in this world. 
The months which she had spent in her aunt’s 
home had weaned her away in some small 
measure from her constant companionship with 
him ; but then there had been the knowledge to 
help her endure the separation cheerfully that 
he was still in her home, and that if at any time 
it grew too hard to bear, she could go straight 
back to him ; and now she knew that in this 
world he could never speak to her again nor 
help her bear the sorrows of her life. 

She was very lonely in these days, and yet 
this loneliness brought her a blessing that 
might not have come to her in any other way. 
There is always a great loneliness in deep sor- 
row. Even the nearest and dearest of our 
friends cannot share it with us. It is not from 
lack of love that they leave us in this loneliness, 
for they do try to help us and their human sym- 
pathy does help to a certain extent ; but they 
cannot understand how heavily the burden of 
sorrow weighs upon our hearts, they cannot con- 
ceive how the shadow of loss falls across all the 
sunshine of life, and how by day and night the 
heart is sore with an exceeding desolation. It 
is then that the tender Physician binds up the 
wounds and comforts the sore heart as no one 
else can or will. Truly no sorrow can be too 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 


305 


costly a price to pay for the lesson it will bring 
us, if we will let it — that Christ knows and un- 
derstands as no human friend can understand, 
and that he is closer to us in the shadow than in 
the sunlight. I verily believe that it is the 
experience of any Christian who has passed 
through the deep waters of affliction that the 
blessing infinitely outbalances the bitterness, 
and that he has more cause for gratitude for the 
suffering than for all the sunshine that has 
gladdened his life. 

When Christ led the blind man aside that he 
might give him sight, do you think that the man 
thought of complaining that he was taken away 
from his old haunts ? I think rather that the first 
glimpse of that divine face, beaming upon him 
with tenderness and compassion, so overwhelmed 
him with gratitude and adoration that he forgot 
all else, and perhaps would have rejoiced that he 
had not seen before, since the first sight that fell 
upon his restored vision was that of the Christ, 
the Son of God. Even so, when Christ has led 
us aside for a time, and touched our eyes so that 
we can see him, we should rejoice, like the blind 
man, rather than lament that it was in loneliness 
that we first saw Him as he is, tender and com- 
passionate with a compassion that fails not. 

So in these days of sorrow Louise found that 
she could live nearer to God than she had ever 


Silver Cowls 20 


SILVER BOWLS. 


306 

done before. He was a very real and dear friend, 
who helped her as no one else in the world could 
help her, because he understood every longing 
of her heart : her loneliness and her longing for 
the dear voice that was stilled in death, her de- 
sire to live a more consecrated life, one that 
should glorify God, if the honor might be per- 
mitted her of glorifying him in the little things 
of every day. None of us can live our lives to 
ourselves, whether we wish to or not, and in a 
hundred little ways Louise was influencing those 
about her, and the channels of her influence ran 
on and touched the lives of some people whom 
she might never meet. 

Certainly the home-life of the Norrises was 
improving day by day. The fact that they had 
no ideal to which they might strive to attain was 
somewhat against them. No one of them knew 
anything of what a home-life might be if all the 
members of the family did their utmost to make 
it perfect. They were so used to the unhappy 
wrangling and the fault-finding atmosphere in 
which the children had grown up that they did 
not know what they were missing, but they were 
gradually growing into a knowledge of better 
things. They found the new order of things far 
more pleasant than the old. Although at first it 
seemed almost ridiculous to them to show to 
each other the courtesy they would have shown 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 


307 


to strangers, yet when they found how each 
pleasant word was chiselling away the rough 
corners which had always bruised them in the 
past, and that thoughtfulness for each other’s 
comfort brought forth fruit after its kind, with 
harvest multiplied and abundant, not unnatu- 
rally they kept on with the new way which was 
so much better than the old. 

Jars and frictions were abundant enough, and 
to Louise seemed very discouraging when she 
remembered the happy atmosphere of her own 
home ; but when she looked back and thought 
of the bitter quarrel she had overheard that first 
Sunday, and noticed the advance made since 
then, she grew more hopeful. Many people be- 
sides Tom and Mallie and their mother fall into 
a habit of continually irritating every one with 
whom they come in contact. Human mosquitoes, 
they are, who, not content with stinging, in- 
fuse poison into the wound, and who inflict an 
amount of irritation wholly out of proportion to 
the cause. 

Perhaps if the Norrises had been alone they 
might have oftener fallen into the old habits of 
sharp retort and criticism ; but Louise had won 
a place for herself in all their hearts, and they 
were none of them willing to have her hear them 
quarrelling. Even Mrs. Norris was growing more 
amiable. The example of courteous unselfishness 


SILVER BOWLS. 


30S 

was too constantly before them to allow them to 
go on comfortably in their old way. At the store 
Louise had no less an influence for good. If she 
had claimed superiority the girls would have 
been very quick to argue that she was in no way 
better than they were, since she was obliged to 
earn her living as they did and in very much the 
same way, and they would have resented any- 
thing that they interpreted into an intention to 
“ put on airs but there was an insensibly refin- 
ing influence about the new cashier that every 
one of them felt, although they might not ac- 
knowledge it in words. She was always ready 
to oblige any of the girls, and never failed in 
courteous greeting ; but she never talked about 
“her young man,” nor laughed at the rough 
jests with which the others often made them- 
selves merry. Without a word of rebuke con- 
cerning the things which jarred upon her, her 
influence was against them, and as there was so 
much that the girls admired in her, they grew 
to care enough about her opinion to refrain, at 
least in her presence, from the words that they 
knew would not be pleasant to her. Their 
reading, too, was opening up a new world to 
them. Not yet were they beginning to choose 
the books which would most help and uplift 
them, but they were dropping the books which 
would drag them down and spoil all ideals of 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 309 

anything better; and that was an appreciable 
gain. 

There was something else, however, about 
these reading circles that was an immeasurable 
gain. Heretofore hom^e had meant to most of 
the girls merely a place where they should 
sleep and eat. As soon as they had eaten their 
evening meal and donned the finery which they 
enjoyed wearing, and upon which they spent 
most of the money that they earned, they were 
very apt to start off at once, to spend the even- 
ing in walking about the streets, often joined 
by young men. 

True the homes were not very inviting, and 
it had never occurred to the girls that they had 
anything to do towards making them more 
pleasant. They thought, and very often their 
parents thought, that their duty was done if 
they paid a certain part of the money they 
earned for their board or towards the family 
expenses. Occasionally a dance, kept up to a 
late hour in some hall, a ride with a supper at 
the end of it, or an evening spent at a cheap 
theatre, varied the programme, and left the girls 
to get up the next morning heavy-eyed and 
tired, with less energy than ever for their day’s 
work. Home was left entirely out of their ac- 
count, except as a convenience v/hich they util- 
ized as little as possible. 


310 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Now when the reading circles met in turn at 
the different homes, the girls for that one even- 
ing at least took pride and thought for their 
homes, and all the family entered into the plan 
heartily. Many a mother who had scarcely 
known her daughter’s friends by sight before, 
sat by and listened to the reading and the re- 
ports, and was as proud of her daughter as if she 
had been talented and cultivated. It was not 
much wonder that many of the mothers had 
grown discouraged, and had thought that it was 
of no use to try to do anything to make home 
pleasant, when no one stayed in it beyond the 
time absolutely necessary to eat and sleep. The 
day when the circle was to meet was a grand 
occasion in many of these homes, and they re- 
ceived a cleaning and brightening that made 
them seem very different and developed a new 
self-respect. The circle night meant one even- 
ing in every week when the enjoyment of the 
girls who were interested in it, and those in the 
family where it met besides, would be whole- 
some and clean. The girls took pride in their 
reports, and were stimulated to effort, and as the 
weeks went by the tone of the reading was ma- 
terially altered and they began to live in a higher 
atmosphere. 

Do you remember what Ruskin says about 
books? Every girl ought to know, so I shall 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 


31 


quote it, even although it may be a repetition of 
well-known words to some of my readers. They 
are words that will bear repetition : 

“According to the sincerity of our desire 
that our friends may be true and our com- 
panions wise, and in proportion to the earnest- 
ness and discretion with which we choose both, 
will be the general chance of our happiness and 
usefulness. But, granting that we had both the 
will and the sense to choose our friends well, how 
few of us have the power ! Or at least, how limit- 
ed, for most, is the sphere of choice ! Nearly all 
our associations are determined by chance or 
necessity, and restricted within a narrow circle. 
We cannot know whom we would, and those 
whom we know we cannot have at our side when 
we most need them. All the higher circles of 
human intelligence are, to those beneath,' only 
momentarily and partially open. We may, by 
good fortune, obtain a glimpse of a great poet 
and hear the sound of his voice, or put a question 
to a man of science and be answered good-hu- 
moredly. We may intrude ten minutes’ talk on 
a cabinet minister, answered probably with words 
worse than silence, being deceptive ; or snatch 
once or twice in our lives the privilege of throw- 
ing a bouquet in the path of a princess or arrest- 
ing the kind glance of a queen. And yet these 
momentary chances we covet, and spend our 


312 


SILVER BOWLS. 


years and passions and powers in pursuit of little 
more than these; v/hile meantime. there is a so- 
ciety continually open to us, of people who will 
talk to us as long- as we like, whatever our rank 
and occupation — talk to us in the best words they 
can choose and of the things nearest their hearts. 
And this society, because it is so numerous and 
so gentle, and can be kept waiting around us all 
day long — kings and statesmen lingering pa- 
tiently, not to grant audience but to gain it, in 
those plainly furnished and narrow ante-rooms, 
our book-case shelves — we make no account of 
that company, perhaps never listen to a word 
they would say all day long. 

“You may tell me, perhaps, or think within 
yourselves, that the apathy with which we regard 
this company of the noble who are praying us to 
listen to them, and the passion with which we 
pursue the company probably of the ignoble 
who despise us or who have nothing to teach us, 
are grounded in this — that we can see the faces 
of living men, and it is themselves and not their 
sayings with v/hich we desire to become familiar. 
But it is not so. Suppose you were never to see 
their faces. Suppose you could be put behind a 
screen in a statesman’s cabinet or a prince’s 
chamber, would you not be glad to be free to 
listen to his words, though you were forbidden 
to advance beyond the screen ? And when the 


SILENT INFLUENCE. 


313 


only screen between you and him is the printed 
page, and through the eye you can listen all day 
long, not to the casual talk, but to the studied, 
determined, chosen addresses of the wisest of 
men — this station of audience and honorable 
privy council you despise. But perhaps you will 
say that it is because the living people talk of 
things that are passing, and are of immediate in- 
terest to you, that you desire to hear them. Nay, 
that cannot be, for the living people will them- 
selves tell you about passing matters much better 
in their writings than in their careless talk. 

“ A book is written, not to multiply the voice 
merely, not to carry it merely, but to perpetuate 
it. The author has something to say which he 
believes to be true and useful or helpfully beau- 
tiful. So far as he knows, no one has yet said 
it ; so far as he knows, no one else can say it. 
He is bound to say it, clearly and melodiously if 
he may, clearly at all events. Now books of 
this kind have been written in all ages by the 
greatest men, by great readers, great statesmen, 
and great thinkers. These are all at your choice, 
and life is short. You have heard as much be- 
fore, yet have you measured and mapped out 
this short life and its possibilities? Do you 
know if you read this, you cannot read that ? 
that what you lose to-day, you cannot gain to- 
morrow? Will you go and gossip with your 


/ 


314 SILVER BOWLS. 

housemaid, your stable-boy, when you may talk 
with kings and queens? or flatter yourselves it 
is with any worthy consciousness of your own 
claims to respect that you jostle with the hun- 
gry and common crowd for eyitree here and 
audience there, when all the while this eternal 
court is open to you, with its society, wide as the 
world, multitudinous as its days, the chosen and 
the mighty of every time and place ? Into that 
you may enter always ; in that you may take 
fellowship and rank according to your wish ; 
from that, once entered into it, you can never be 
outcast but by your own fault.” 

Very much these girls had lost of the com- 
panionship they might have had, and they were 
still willing to gossip with those of low degree 
when they might have audience with kings and 
queens ; but even the common-place, as long as 
it was healthy and pure in tone, was better com- 
pany than many of them had kept, and would 
lead up to something better in the future. 


GROWTH. 


315 


CHAPTER XXVIII 

GROWTH. 

The weeks wore slowly away and Louise by 
degrees was growing more contented. She was 
counting the days until the fifteenth of August, 
when she would have two weeks’ vacation, and 
sometimes it seemed to her as if she could never 
wait until that time to see the dear home faces 
again. It was a great comfort to her to know 
that the money she could send home above her 
necessary expenditures was of very material 
assistance to those at home. In June Nellie 
would graduate, and would begin teaching in the 
fall, so perhaps by that time something else 
would open for Louise that would give her em- 
ployment near home, and which would be more 
congenial work than her present employment. 
She realized more and more how very fortunate 
she had been to find any place in the ranks of 
workers, when she was untrained for any special 
employment, for scarcely a week passed in which 
she did not know of some girl who was seeking 
in vain for employment of any description, satis- 
fied if it would merely pay her board and pro- 
vide her with clothes. Louise not only was 
self-supporting, but was able to help those at 


SILVER BOWLS. 


316 

home, which was far more than many a girl 
could do who had just begun to work. 

Louise had begun to feel at home in her 
church relations, and Mr. and Mrs. Martin 
showed her every kindness. Very often Mrs. 
Martin would insist upon her coming home with 
them after Sunday-school in the afternoon and 
remaining to tea with them. These little visits 
were like gleams of sunshine in her somewhat 
dreary life. The intercourse with refined Chris- 
tian people, the admittance into the charming 
home, with its pretty appointments and com- 
forts, which Louise had missed all the more 
since her visit to her aunt, the words of help and 
advice which she received, were all very precious 
to her, and helped her to meet hard places in 
her life more bravely than if she had no friends 
with whom she could talk over matters some- 
times, and who could sympathize with her. 

Mr. and Mrs. Martin were comparatively 
young people, and were full of enthusiasm and 
energy. They discussed their plans with Louise, 
and helped her to feel that she could do much 
that a minister and his wife could not do in her 
intercourse with the Norrises. Mrs. Martin 
loved and understood boys as very few do, and 
she had completely won Tom’s heart. He was 
very regular at Sunday-school, and was so proud 
of his teacher’s belief in his abilities that he did 


GROWTH. 


317 


his best, as a boy always will if you believe in 
him. It is a lesson that some people are very 
slow to learn and some never learn at all, that a 
boy tries to justify your belief in him. If you 
believe that he is mischievous, idle, unreliable, 
and not to be depended upon for doing anything 
except what he ought not do, you will find that 
he will be very apt to deserve your opinion ; but 
if you love and trust him, and show him that 
you are proud of him, and that he is a boy to be 
proud of, I have never yet met the boy who will 
not strain every nerve to justify your belief and 
deserve it. 

Mrs. Martin took it for granted that Tom 
would carefully prepare his lesson for Sunday- 
school, and Tom did what might have seemed 
incredible to those who had always known him ; 
actually took a little time to study it every day, 
and was ambitious to equal any of his class- 
mates, most of whom had far better advantages 
than he had, because he did not want to disap- 
point his teacher. She believed that he always 
intended to be a gentleman in all that the word 
implies, that he would be gentle to those who 
were weaker than himself, that he would be 
courteous and honorable ; and Tom did not fail 
her. She gave him to understand that a gentle- 
man would first of all show deference to his mo- 
ther and sister, and Tom almost surprised him- 


SILVER BOWLS. 


318 

self by rendering to his mother and Mallie the 
little services that he was so glad to show Mrs. 
Martin. 

Little things they were, but they made the 
home a very different one from the wretched 
household to which we were first introduced. 
Then Mallie could have struggled up stairs with 
a heavy bucket of coal or pail of water, with 
Tom sitting by the fire unobservant, and careless 
whether she overexerted herself or not, for Mal- 
lie’s bitter reproaches of laziness had never made 
matters any better ; but now Tom had grown to 
feel that his strength was given him to be help- 
ful, and it was a matter of course for him to be 
thoughtful for Mallie. 

He had been introduced to a different home 
atmosphere, and it was so pleasant that he tried 
to do his part towards making his own home 
better. Mrs. Martin believed in bringing her 
boys into her home as much as possible, and so 
Tom had spent many pleasant evenings there 
with the rest of his class. He was a bright, ob- 
servant boy, and his eyes were keen to notice 
little things. Once he saw Mr. Martin jump up 
and slip a screen between the lamp and his 
wife’s eyes. The next time Tom was sitting in 
his mother’s room and noticed that the light was 
shining in her face, he improvised a screen and 
shielded her from the light ; and although she 


GROWTH. 


319 


did not say anything about this little attention, 
yet it was a source of satisfaction to him to have 
rendered it. 

Mrs. Norris had pleasanter things to think 
about now as she lay in her sick-room. Her 
children were certainly different, and it made 
the whole house different in many a way. Mal- 
lie was cheery and bright, and as she went 
about her work she sang to herself in a way that 
spoke of contentment and joy. Tom had lost 
his slouching, teasing manner, and carried him- 
self erect and briskly, and no longer delighted 
in irritating every one with whom he came in- 
contact. The brother and sister had much that 
was pleasant to talk about, and had ceased the 
miserable quarrels that used to be constantly in 
the atmosphere ; and notwithstanding poverty 
and hard work, the home was now growing to 
be a happy one. 

When Tom rendered any service to Louise 
she always thanked him for it with the same 
courtesy that she would have shown to any one 
else ; and Mallie followed her example— rather 
shamefacedly at first, for it was something so 
new ; but as Tom grew more thoughtful for her 
and a real sisterly affection began to develop, it 
was not such hard work to be pleasant. 

It was no longer a Christless home. That 
made the difference. 


320 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Mallie was beginning to live the name she 
bore. Louise helped her as simply as she 
would have helped a little child, and made the 
path very plain before her. It was just what 
Mallie wanted, to know how to be a Christian, 
how to read her Bible, and how to pray ; and 
when she learned that self-control, the keeping 
back of hasty, impatient words, or doing an un- 
selfish deed in His Name, was pleasing Christ, 
she felt as if even the smallest things of life 
had a new light cast upon them. Louise took 
turns with Mallie in going to the church ser- 
vices and the Christian Endeavor meetings, and 
one of the neighbors always stayed with Mrs. 
Norris while all the young people went to Sun- 
day-school together. 

Every Sunday brought so much help and 
encouragement to Mallie that she often won- 
dered how she had ever managed to live at all 
without anything beyond her own miserable 
life to help her along from day to day. Her 
heart was full of new love to the Saviour, and 
she was so grateful to Louise for having helped 
her to a knowledge of the One whom she had 
been professing to follow, while she really had 
known Him not, that she could hardly find 
enough to do for her. Naturally Mallie was 
warm-hearted and grateful. It was only the 
care, disappointments, and hard things of her 


GROWTH. 


321 


life that had warped her into such bitterness and 
irritability. She was like another girl in these 
days. The new interests that had opened be- 
fore her gave her the change of thought that 
any young girl needs ; and the church with its 
services, the reading club, and the bits of the 
outside world that Louise brought her, bright- 
ened her life until it sometimes seemed to her 
as if she had had an entire change of surround- 
ings. 

The people whom Tom most admired, Mr. 
and Mrs. Martin and Louise, were all professing 
Christians, and while he had not come to any 
decision, yet he was thinking very earnestly 
about the matter. It certainly made them very 
different from the people of the world who were 
selfish and careless of any but their own interests. 
Tom felt as if it was more than he could live 
up to,” as he expressed it, and he had not come 
to understand that he would not have to depend 
upon his own strength, but would have a helper 
v/ho could uphold him in the midst of tempta- 
tion when he put his trust in Him. No false 
pride kept him from confessing Christ, and a 
deeper love for the Saviour was taking root in 
his heart as he listened to his teacher’s earnest 
words from Sunday to Sunday, so it was only a 
question of time when he should take his stand 
upon the Lord’s side. 


Silver Bowls. 2 I 


322 


SILVER BOWLS. 


And Tom was going to make a genuine 
Christian when he should take that step. A 
boy who is steady, resolute of purpose, and lov- 
ing and warm-hearted, will be just the one who 
will do the best work for Christ when he enlists 
under his banner. More than one of his friends 
was praying earnestly for him, that he might 
not delay. 

Louise found many a little niche into which 
she could fit in the church-work. A class of 
little ones was waiting a teacher ; every now 
and then her knowledge of music enabled her 
to come to the rescue when it was the hour for 
the young people’s meeting and the organist, 
who was a physician, was detained from his 
post ; busy as she was with her daily work, she 
found time to serve now and then upon com- 
mittees ; and as the busiest ones are always the 
workers in the church, she found that the others 
who were relied upon to help whenever there 
was real work to be done were, like herself, those 
who toiled for their daily bread. It is those 
who are silver bowls, who have small talents 
entrusted to their keeping, and who are only fit 
for humble service, who do most of the Chris- 
tian work in the world. There is work for lead- 
ers, for those who have had great powers given 
to them ; but without the ranks to follow the 
leaders, how would the work be accomplished ? 


GROWTH. 


323 


Unless Louise had been a member of the 
Norris household, it might have been almost 
impossible for Mr. Martin to reach their hearts 
as he could and did. She could explain so much 
to him, and tell him just where they needed 
help, so that none of his work was thrown away 
in feeling his ground. Even Mrs. Norris was as 
enthusiastic over him as Tom and Mallie ; and 
although her heart was not as receptive as the 
hearts of her children, yet as they grew to fol- 
low the Saviour in their daily lives it seemed 
as if she, too, must tread in the same path. 

Mr. Martin was very enthusiastic over the 
plan of the Home Culture Circles when Louise 
explained it to him, and he organized some 
among the boys and young men of his church. 
The movement grew until there were ten circles 
in active existence ; and as once a month they all 
met together and reported progress, there was a 
considerable amount of enthusiasm manifested 
in the work done. It meant that seventy young 
people were taking a step in advance of any they 
had before, and the influence upon the home 
was not the least part of the good that was ac- 
complished. It will be a story in itself to tell 
you of the transformation of some of the homes 
from mere lodging-places into homes in the best 
sense of the word. 

There was something else gained too. Mr. 


3^4 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Martin’s interest in these circles brought him 
into intercourse with some of the young people 
who would have kept aloof from him if he had 
approached them solely as a minister or they 
had suspected him of a desire to preach to them ; 
but when they learned to know him in connec- 
tion with the reading circles, and were won by 
his genial manners and evident interest in them, 
they responded to his invitation to church and 
the Endeavor meetings, and the ranks of the 
latter were recruited from the circles in more 
than one instance. 

In May a friend of Mr. Martin’s came to pay 
them a visit, and it so happened, as we call 
God’s orderings happenings, that his visit had 
a great deal to do with the Norrises. He was a 
surgeon of considerable eminence, and had made 
a specialty of the trouble which had made Mrs. 
Norris an invalid.- He was an earnest Christian, 
and held his attainments as a gift from the Lord, 
of which he was merely the steward, to use 
them whenever he could for the relief of any of 
God’s children. Hearing of Mrs. Norris’ case 
one day, as her name was mentioned in connec- 
tion with Louise who had come in for a little 
call, he expressed a desire to see her and find 
out whether he could do anything for her. He 
thought it possible, the more so as, the family 
being poor, it was hardly probable that they 


GROWTH. 325 

had done all that could be done in the matter. 
You can imagine the joy in the family when 
under his skilful treatment Mrs. Norris rapidly 
improved. There was every hope that she would 
be able to get about again in a few months, 
and the doctor left full directions when he 
went away for the continuance of the treatment. 
Neither Mrs. Norris nor her children had ever 
anticipated her recovery or even improvement, 
so it seemed almost too good to be true. Her 
happiness aided her recovery very materially, 
and the day when she left her room and was 
wheeled out into the sitting-room in an invalid 
chair was a red-letter day to all of them. 

It seems just as wonderful as the time in 
the Bible when the Lord healed the lame man 
and told him to take up his bed and walk,” said 
Mallie, that afternoon, when she came in from 
Sunday-school and saw her mother sitting there. 
The incident had been the subject of the lesson 
that day, so her thoughts were full of it. 

“ Miss Rushton,” she went on, half shyly, 
“ is it too much to think that the Lord healed 
mother just as much as he did that man? He 
is n’t here now, so he sent this doctor to heal 
her, and it is just as wonderful as if he had said, 

‘ Take up thy bed and walk.’ ” 

“It is his doing just as truly as if he had 
laid his own hand upon her,” said Louise rev- 


326 


SILVER BOWLS. 


erently, and tlie thought fell like seed into 
Mrs. Norris’ heart and some day it will spring 
up and bear fruit. And it was her daughter’s 
hand that sowed the seed, the daughter who a 
few months ago did not know how to go to her 
Heavenly Father for the least or the greatest 
wish of her heart. 

Was it not well worth doing, think you, to 
have been the instrument of helping her, even 
at the cost of sacrifice ? 


A NEW PATH. 


327 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

A NEW PATH. 

June came in a burst of summer heat, all the 
more exhausting because it was unexpected and 
sudden. The spring days had been cool and 
delightful, so these first very hot days were 
trying ones to every one. It was hot enough 
for those who could stay at home and make 
themselves as comfortable as possible, letting 
all work remain undone except the most neces- 
sary ; but to those who had to work all day the 
weather was very oppressive. 

Louise felt completely wilted. It seemed to 
her as if she would smother at her desk, it was 
so hot and close, and she was completely shut 
away from any current of air. Each day seemed 
to grow more oppressive, and she wondered how 
she should ever be able to endure the summer 
heat if this June weather was so trying. 

Each day the thermometer rose higher, and 
her spirits went down proportionately. The 
heat did not seem to cause any lull in business. 
On the contrary many people who had delayed 
to make their summer purchases because the 
weather was so cool, all came rushing in togeth- 
er, and kept the saleswomen driven, the cash- 


328 


SILVER BOWLS. 


boys in constant motion, and the cashier hurried 
the greater part of the day. It seemed as if it 
could not be endured much longer if the heat 
continued. Cool waves were prophesied, but 
seemed to pass around the town without pausing 
on their way, and each day Louise grew more lan- 
guid. She did not want to give up, yet vacation 
appeared so far away that it did not seem as if her 
strength could possibly hold out. One day had 
been particularly trying. There had been a rush 
all day, the boys had mixed things up in their 
haste and made her work harder than usual, Mr. 
Hardman had spoken as if he thought she might 
work faster after all her experience, and she was 
hot with a sense of his injustice, which not even 
a semi-apology which he offered as she was leav- 
ing the store at dinner-time quite atoned for. 
Altogether life was very hard, and she did not 
feel like being brave over its trials. It was that 
evening that a letter came from Grace Daven- 
port that made a complete revolution in her 
feelings. She had told Mallie she would stop at 
the postofhce for the mail, for since Tom was 
employed there was no one to go for letters 
unless Mallie went herself or Tom went after he 
got through his work, which was sometimes too 
late, as he was detained longer than Louise in 
his department. 

Three letters for herself were handed out to 


A NEW PATH. 


329 


her, and as she looked at the superscriptions she 
saw that one was from her mother, one from her 
Aunt Belle, and one from Grace Davenport. 

She was glad to get the two former ones, but 
she did not feel in haste to look at Grace’s. She 
did not feel jealous, but a remembrance of the 
difference in their circumstances flashed 'over 
her, and it seemed hard that Grace should be a 
petted heiress with everything to make life 
pleasant, while she had to work so hard in the 
midst of circumstances that were so unconge- 
nial. No doubt, she thought, Grace was about 
to run away from home for one of the pleasant 
little trips to the mountains or at the seashore 
that were always possible to her, and in which 
she so frequently indulged. Something else 
Louise remembered as she thought of these 
same trips : Grace rarely went without taking 
some one with her whom it was a real kindness 
to invite. It might be an elderly relative, whom 
no one else wanted to have in her party because 
of some peculiarity of dress or manner ; it might 
be some invalid who needed just such a change 
to give her a start on the road back to health ; or 
perhaps it might be one of her girl friends, who 
would enjoy the trip with all her heart — all the 
more because it would not be possible for her to 
compass it without her friend’s kind invitation, 
which always meant paying all the expenses. 


330 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Grace is certainly the one to have money,” 
thought Louise, ashamed that she had for a 
moment contrasted their positions so wistfully. 

I dare say I should not do half the good that 
she does if I had her wealth, and in one thing I 
am richer than she is : I have my darling mo- 
ther and my sisters and brother, and she has no 
one but her father, and he is not like my dear 
father. He is always so wrapped up in his busi- 
ness that he does not have time to be a compan- 
ion to her. No, I would not change places, even 
though it would be very delightful not to be 
shut up in a hot box all these days, without a 
breath of air. I have a greal deal to be thank- 
ful for, and I wont let myself get discontented. 
If I was in one of those stuffy boarding-houses I 
might complain.” 

She opened her mother’s letter and read it as 
she walked slowly along. It was such a loving, 
tender letter that she felt much happier after 
she had read it. Any girl who had such a mo- 
ther to love her could not help being rich, if she 
did have to work hard for her daily bread. Her 
aunt’s letter and Grace Davenport’s were put 
aside until after supper, when she should have 
leisure to sit down and quietly enjoy them. 

She went languidly up stairs when she 
reached the house, and taking off her hat, bathed 
her face and hands in fresh, cool water which 


A NEW PATH. 


331 


Mallie brought up to her, just drawn from the 
well. When she went down to supper she found 
that it had been made as appetizing as possible, 
for she had been too tired and hot to eat much 
dinner, and Mallie had tried to coax her appetite 
with the evening meal. Pink slices of cold 
boiled ham, delicate biscuit, some strawberries, 
and, great treat of all, some ice-cream which 
Mallie had made herself. 

Cooled and refreshed by bathing her face 
and hands, Louise ate a good meal, much to 
Malhe’s gratification, and praised the ice- 
cream until Mallie felt more than repaid for 
the trouble of making it. Then she went up 
stairs to read her letters. There was a large 
tree growing back of the house, and it seemed 
so warm and close up stairs that Louise took a 
chair out under the tree where she might be 
more comfortable. 

She opened her aunt’s letter first and read it ; 
it was comforting and helpful, as all her aunt’s 
letters were, and full of loving messages from 
all the family. Aunt Belle wrote how splendid- 
ly Fred was doing in his studies and how proud 
they were of him, and of the pleasant and profit- 
able occupation he had in prospect for the sum- 
mer, that of going away to the mountains with a 
gentleman and his son, the latter of whom he 
was to teach for two or three hours a day so that 


332 


SILVER BOWLS. 


he would overtake the place in his class he had 
lost through illness. 

“ I wish I had something as delightful as that 
in prospect for this summer,” thought Louise, as 
she dropped the letter in her lap after reading it 
over twice. 

Then she opened Grace Davenport’s letter. 
Afterwards she wondered that some electric 
thrill had not warned her of its contents when 
she first took it in her hands, and she was al- 
most jealous to think how much sooner she 
would have been in possession of the delightful 
news it contained if she had only opened it. 

My dear Louise,” Grace wrote, '‘I am de- 
lighted over our new plan for the summer. 
Papa had decided that he had to goto Maine 
this summer, and we thought that a few weeks at 
Bar Harbor would be the best thing for me 
under the circumstances. I had progressed so 
far in this plan as to write and make inquiries 
about rooms, board, etc., and had quite settled 
that it would be the most delightful plan I could 
consider. Yesterday evening papa came home 
with a piece of information that has quite 
eclipsed everything else, and I am in the wild- 
est state of rapture that you can imagine in 
consequence. I hope you will be, too, when I 
tell you what it is. I can hardly believe it as I 
sit here writing it, and I can’t get over the feel- 


A NEW PATH. 


333 


ingf that I must be dreaming and will wake up 
suddenly and find that there is n’t an atom of 
reality in the whole thing. Can you guess what 
it is ? If I were beside you I would give you 
three guesses, and see how near you would come 
to the truth, or rather how far away from it you 
would come ; for I know you could n’t possibly 
guess it if you had thirty instead of three 
guesses. What do you think of going to Eu- 
rope ? I know the words will take your breath 
away, as they have taken mine. I could n’t say 
one single world when papa said to me last 
night, ‘ Gracie, I ’m going to take a run across 
the ocean this summer. How would you like to 
go with me ?’ What could I say under such cir- 
cumstances ? I just fell upon him and hugged 
him until he begged for mercy and assured me 
that he would n’t be able to go anywhere if I 
throttled him in this fashion. He seemed to 
consider it an answer in the affirmative, how- 
ever, and in a few minutes we fell to discussing 
plans as if it were a matter that had always been 
under consideration. Is n’t it just the loveliest 
thing possible ! You know how I have always 
wanted to go, and I don’t know how many times 
I have sat in school with the map in front of me 
crossing the ocean in imagination. 

“But now you are probably saying, Why 
does Grace expect me to be so rapturous over 


334 


SILVER BOWLS. 


her going to Europe? Why just because, my 
dear Louise, you are going too, that is if you 
will ; and I fancy that I will not have to beg 
you very hard to secure your consent. You see 
papa is going on a strictly business trip, and 
while he will have time to take me to various 
places of interest, he will not have time to stay 
and go about with me, and of course it would not 
do for me to go alone. Aunt Alice, who would 
be the proper one to chaperone me under the 
circumstances, is too afraid of the ocean to think 
of risking her life upon it, to say nothing of the 
danger of mal dc mer if she escaped everything 
worse ; so there is absolutely no one to take care 
of me or keep me company. ‘ What shall I do ?’ 
I asked papa, and he looked thoughtful for about 
half a moment. ‘I don’t know. Grade,’ he 
answered, ‘ unless you could hunt up one of your 
schoolgirl friends to go with you as companion, 
and then I should know you were having a good 
time while I attended to business.’ Of course 
that delighted me, and I cannot imagine a pleas- 
anter way of being chaperoned. And now, dear, 
you are the one I want to have with me. I am 
sure it will do you a world of good after your 
close confinement to business for so long ; and 
you need not feel as if you were losing your 
time, for of course it will be a business arrange- 
ment between you and papa. Wont we have a 


A NEW PATH. 


335 


delightful time ? Just imagine it ! We shall not 
start until the first week in August, and we will 
be back again by the middle of September, so it 
will not be a very long trip, but we can see a 
great deal in even that limited time, I have no 
doubt. I hope nothing will prevent your going, 
for it will double my pleasure to have you for a 
travelling companion. Do write as soon as you 
can, and say that you will go, so I can go on 
making my plans. I went to see your mother 
and told her about it, and she was delighted. I 
asked her not to say anything to you about it 
until after I had written, for I wanted to have 
the pleasure of telling you myself. We are not 
going on the Continent, just to Scotland ; so we 
wont get tired out travelling about. Oh, Louise, 
I do hope you will be half as delighted as I am, 
and that nothing will prevent your going ! With 
a heartful of love, ever your friend, 

“ Grace.” 

Do you wonder that Louise read this letter 
over twice without taking in the meaning of it ? 
It seemed quite too good to be true, and she 
could not believe that there was not some mis- 
take about it. Mr. Davenport had crossed the 
ocean on business twice while Grace was at 
school, so his going over this summer was noth- 
ing unusual, and even Grace’s going with him 


SILVER BOWLS. 


336 

was wliat might have been expected ; but it 
really seemed more like a dream than any real- 
ity of life that she, Louise, was to have such a 
delightful summer trip. To go to Europe had 
always been so far beyond her possibilities that 
she had never even let herself wish for such a 
thing, and to think that after all it had come to 
her in this unexpected way ! 

There v/ould be nothing selfish in accepting 
this invitation, for as Grace had hinted, she 
would not be at any expense and she would be 
repaid for her time. It seemed too bad to let 
such an arrangement as the latter be made, but 
she knew that Mr. Davenport and Grace were 
aware, as well as she knew herself, how very 
necessary her help was to her mother, and that 
she could not afford to take her time for a pleas- 
ure trip only. The heat, the annoyances, the 
worries of the day were all forgotten as she 
leaned back in her chair and clasped her hands 
over her eyes, giving herself up to the most 
delightful day-dreams. She could stand any 
discomfort uncomplainingly now when she had 
such a happiness in store. In this moment of 
happiness she missed her father as much 
as she had missed him in her lonely hours. 
Whenever any pleasure came to her, the first 
impulse had always been to rush to him with 
it and have his hearty sympathy in her joy. 


A NEW PATH. 


337 

and she knew how glad he would have been 
now and how heartily he would have con- 
gratulated her. 

Another thought, too, came to her as she sat 
there in the gathering twilight : how good her 
Heavenly Father was to provide for her needs 
and give her this pleasure ! Just when she had 
grown so weary of her hard life that she was 
tempted to complain, he had sent her this letter 
with its good news. She could come back from 
such a trip ready to work with all her might, 
and it would be an inspiration to look forward 
to and something that would always be delight- 
ful to remember when it should be over. She 
started as she heard Mallie’s voice beside her. 

“ Have you a headache, Miss Rushton?” 

“ No, indeed,” laughed Louise. “ I have had 
such good news that I am trying to realize it 
and I do n’t seem to succeed very well. I will 
tell you and see if you can help me believe it,** 

Mallie was as delighted as if it had been 
good news for herself, and except for regret 
that she should not see Louise for so long a 
time, she would have been quite satisfied. 

They sat under the tree talking about it until 
the stars came out, and then Louise went up 
stairs to answer Grace’s letter and accept very 
gratefully the kind invitation. 


Silver Bowls 22 


33 « 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXX. 

PREPARATION. 

The hot wave passed on its way that night, 
leaving no one to mourn its departure, and a 
return of the cool weather revived many who 
had drooped with the heat. Louise soon felt 
quite as well as usual again, but even if the 
weather had continued as oppressive she would 
not have been as wilted by it as she had 
been when she had not this delightful pros- 
pect. 

After her first rejoicing over the charming 
trip so kindly offered to her, she recollected that 
she could not honorably leave her place in the 
store without finding a satisfactory substitute, 
and she was wondering what arrangement could 
be made when the thought occurred to her that 
now Mrs. Norris was improving so rapidly she 
would probably be able to be about the house 
by August, and perhaps it would be possible to 
teach Mallie to take her place ; and it would be a 
great delight to Mallie to have a position where 
she could earn what seemed to her like such a 
large sum of money. 

Mallie was used to handling money, al- 
though in very small sums, but she understood 


PREPARATION. 


339 


its value, and Louise was quite sure that if 
she accompanied her to the store for a week 
or two before she should take the place her- 
self, she would get so used to making change 
that it would not trouble her to take charge 
herself. 

When she suggested the plan to Mallie, the 
girl was even more delighted than she could 
have been if a trip to Europe had been proposed 
to her. She fairly burst into tears in her joy, 
and thanked Louise over and over again for 
thinking of her. 

“ Oh do you suppose I really could do it ?’* 
she asked eagerly. “ I should be so happy if I 
could earn such a lot of money. I could get so 
many things that we need for the house with it, 
and by the time you came back I should have 
something saved up. Oh I don’t know when 
I was ever so pleased about anything !” 

Mrs. Norris was pleased too, and she im- 
proved more rapidly than ever at the prospect 
of being able to take care of herself in a little 
while. To leave Mallie free to go to work and 
earn something was almost equivalent to earn- 
ing something herself, and when we consider 
the privations of the Norris family we cannot 
wonder that to earn money seemed a very de- 
sirable thing to them, and that they were anx- 
ious to reach the point where they should have 


340 


SILVER BOWLS. 


a bank account, however slender, to their credit 
to fall back upon on a rainy day. Louise took 
an early opportunity of telling Mr. Hardman 
that she wished to be away for some time dur- 
ing the summer, but she told him that she 
thought Mallie would be perfectly competent to 
take her place by the time she should go, and 
that if he was willing she would begin to teach 
her her duties as soon as possible, so that she 
would be perfectly familiar with them. 

Mr. Hardman was willing to let Louise take 
the long vacation and promised also that he 
would keep the place for her if Mallie proved a 
satisfactory substitute. 

‘‘ I do n’t know. Miss Rush ton, whether I 
have ever thought to say anything to you about 
it or not,” he said. “ But I want you to know 
that I have been very much satisfied with the 
way you have taken up your work here and at- 
tended to it, and not lost any time in foolishness. 
It isn’t every one not brought up to business 
who understands what business is ; and in all 
the time you have been here you have done as 
well as a man could have done. You have not 
been late once, you have n’t lost even a half-day, 
and I do n’t believe you are ever silly enough to 
stay up dancing half the night so you do n’t know 
what you are about the next day. I am glad that 
you ’ve got this chance for a good vacation, and, 


PREPARATION. 


341 


as I say, I will keep the place for you if Miss 
Norris gets along at all well. I do n’t see why 
she should n’t if you show her how before you 
go, and there ’s never any great rush in summer 
anyhow, so it will be easy for her. I will be glad 
to see you back again when you get home unless 
your friends find something better for you, which 
I have thought they were likely to do. I do n’t 
blame them if they get something nearer home 
for you when there ’s an opening. Please get 
Miss Norris into the business as soon as you 
like.” 

Louise thanked him for his willingness to let 
Mallie fill the place, and whenever Mrs. Norris 
felt well enough to be left alone, which was quite 
often in these days, Mallie accompanied her to 
the store, and sitting on a tall stool beside Louise 
watched her making change, and sometimes, 
when there was no haste, tried her own hand 
at it. To her own great satisfaction as well as 
that of Louise, she soon began to work very 
swiftly and accurately, and there was every 
prospect that she would be able to do very well 
when she should be left to herself. 

The days crept away slowly, and at last it 
came near the time that Louise had set for her 
going home to make preparation for the trip. It 
would have been joy enough to have looked for- 
ward only to seeing the dear home faces and be- 


342 


SILVER BOWLS. 


ing in her mother’s arms once more, but when 
to this there was added the pleasure of making 
preparations for a trip to Europe, Louise looked 
forward to it even more eagerly. She had grown 
quite thin and pale, for the confinement and the 
steady work had told upon her ; but she knew 
that the ocean voyage would soon bring back all 
her old strength. It was a great pleasure to dis- 
cuss her expected journey with Mr. and Mrs. 
Martin, who had taken a trip to Scotland five 
years before and who could tell her a good deal 
that was of interest about the places she expect- 
ed to see. Louise was pleased, as we all are, at 
the knowledge that she would be missed. She 
had no idea how warm a place she had made for 
herself in the hearts of her associates, and there 
was not the least particle of jealousy in their 
thoughts, that she should have an opportunity 
that would never probably come to them in their 
lives of visiting the old world. It had been 
worth all the sacrifice that it had sometimes 
cost to be pleasant and helpful, she said to her- 
self, to be really loved and wanted in her new 
home. 

“ Well, we ’re a heap different from what you 
found us. Miss Rushton, and I must say it ’s all 
your doing,” said Mrs. Norris, the night before 
Louise was to leave them. “ I did n’t seem to 
know what good children I had, and I dare say 


PREPARATION. 


343 


I discouraged them, scolding so much. I was al- 
ways brought up that way myself, and so I sup- 
pose I took to it pretty easy even when things 
were going all right ; and when I was sick and 
couldn’t get about, why it seemed as if there 
was n’t anything left for me to do but to scold. 
I declare, the children are getting so good that 
I feel all the time that I can’t be half thankful 
enough for them ; and now to think that I ’m 
going to get well besides ! I feel as if we were 
going to be as happy as any one now, and I 
do n’t know but what we would have been going 
on in the same old way, and Tom gone to the 
bad maybe, if you had n’t come to live with us. 
It a’n’t my way to make a fuss, Miss Rushton, 
but I can tell you I have learned to think a heap 
of you.” 

''And I think a great deal of you, too,” said 
Louise, touched by these words which meant so 
much from Mrs. Norris. 

It was indeed a different home, and it was 
also true that it was owing in great part to 
Louise’s influence. All the family had much 
yet to learn, and there was still ample room for 
patience and forbearance with one another, but 
love was growing continually, and where love 
grows apace it smothers out all the weeds of ill- 
temper and hatred. 

It was a happy day when Louise had said the 


344 


SILVER BOWLS. 


last good-bys and waved farewell to the little 
party of her friends who came down to the train 
to see her off. She had not been as unhappy as 
she had thought she surely must be in this place, 
but yet she was naturally very glad to be leav- 
ing it for a time, as she supposed. She did not 
know that other paths would open before her 
and that she would never go back again to stay. 

It seemed a long ride home, and the last few 
miles seemed interminable, although the train 
was going at good speed. When at last it drew 
into the little station and the conductor called 
out “Weston,” Louise had gathered up her 
wraps and was standing at the door ready to get 
out the moment it stopped, so great was her im- 
patience. 

Her mother’s arms were waiting to receive 
her, and as she felt herself clasped in their ten- 
der embrace she realized more than ever how 
great had been her longing for home and mo- 
ther through all the weary m^onths of her ab- 
sence. 

Perhaps she would have burst into tears, not- 
withstanding her efforts at self-control, had not 
Dot tie pulled impatiently at her dress. “Kiss 
me, sister, kiss me, sister. I ’m here ; do n’t you 
see me ?” 

“ Why, of course you are here, Dottie,” she 
exclaimed, gathering the little one up in her 


PREPARATION. 


345 


arms and hugging and kissing her -until even 
Dottie was satisfied. “ Did you think sister did 
not see you? Why how you have been grow- 
ing! It wouldn’t have been strange if I had 
not known you, you are such a big girl.” 

Nellie was waiting for her at the house and 
gave her an equally warm welcome ; but it was 
a hard home-coming, nevertheless, when not 
only Louise but all of them remembered the 
dear voice that was always first to welcome his 
children when they came back from a visit, and 
the loving arms into which they loved to nestle. 
If they had not all tried so bravely to keep up 
for each other, and for little Lottie’s sake partic- 
ularly, the tears would have forced their way, 
but each knew what was in the thoughts of the 
others without any words. 

“ You look all tired out, Louise,” Nellie said, 
as they gathered about the tea-table. Does your 
head ache ?” 

“Oh, no,” Louise answered. “I am pretty 
tired, for I was too excited last night at the 
thought of coming home to-day to close my 
eyes, and there were a great many last things 
to do this morning. I had n’t Dottie at hand to 
remind me to pack everything up,” she added 
with a smile at the little sister who was nestling 
close at her side, “and so I had to remember 
everything all by myself.” 


346 


SILVER BOWLS. 


^‘It’s too bad I wasn’t there,” Dottie said 
gravely. “You see, Nellie, I am of lots of use, 
and you said I wasn’t when I wanted to help 
you make cake this morning.” 

“ Yes, you ought to have seen Dottie helping 
me this morning,” Nellie laughed. “ I heard 
nothing of her for some time and suspected that 
she was up to something, and looked about for 
her, and I found her down by the refrigerator, 
making cake, as she said. She had a big bowl 
and the egg-beater to stir things with, and 
she had broken all the eggs she could find 
in the hens’ nests into the bowl, and put in 
some gelatine and oatmeal and grapes and cold 
meat — ” 

“ Oh the cold meat just fell in, I told you,” 
protested Dottie. 

“ Well, we will give the cold meat the benefit 
of the doubt, but you were just going to put in 
everything else that you could find in the refrig- 
erator to make cake for sister Louise. The re- 
sult was we came near not having any cake at 
all, for I had a great time finding some more 
eggs. She felt quite aggrieved because I did 
not appreciate her help.” 

Louise^ smiled. It seemed so natural and 
homelike to be hearing of dear little Dottie’s 
pranks, and it had been so long since she had 
sat down at the home table. There was so much 


PREPARATION. 


347 


to talk about that the time passed very quickly. 
Louise had not nearly finished asking all the 
questions that rose to her lips when a party 
of her girl friends came in to see her, and 
from that time until the clock struck ten, and 
her mother declared it was time for her to go 
to bed, there was a constant stream of earnest 
talk. 

As Louise put her head on her pillow that 
night it was with a glad sense that she was at 
home once more. Her place had not been filled 
either in the home circle or in the circle of her 
friends ; they all loved her and had a warm wel- 
come for her, and there was no occasion left for 
thinking that because she had been obliged to 
be separated from them they had grown to care 
any the less for her. 

It was very sweet to have her mother come 
into her room for a little chat when she was all 
ready for bed. The mother and daughter had a 
great deal to say to each other, and when Louise 
nestled her tired head into the soft pillow, and 
felt her mother’s loving touch stroking her hair, 
she thought to herself that she could be glad to 
give up even this trip to Europe if only she 
might not go away from home again. 


348 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 

PREPARING FOR THE TRIP. 

It did not take very long to make the neces- 
sary preparation for the trip. Louise found that 
Grace, with her usual thoughtfulness and gen- 
erosity, had procured Louise’s travelling outfit 
when she purchased her own. She would not 
permit Louise to entertain any feeling of obliga- 
tion to her upon this account, but insisted that 
it was only right that she should do this, as it 
was an expense to which Louise would not have 
been put except for this. A heavy travelling 
dress, the same in material and quality as Grace’s 
own, differing only in being black, while Grace’s 
was gray, was ready to be made, and the rugs, 
wraps, and other little conveniences for the 
journey were all in readiness. 

Louise and Nellie made the travelling dress, 
packed the little steamer trunk with the few 
things that would be needed, and then the last 
few days Louise had nothing to do but enjoy 
her friends. To both Louise and Grace it hard- 
ly seemed possible that they were really going 
to take a trip which would hold such possibili- 
ties of pleasure. All their girl friends wished 
that they were to be included in the party, and 


PREPARING FOR THE TRIP. 349 

nothing else was talked about in their circle of 
acquaintances. 

It hardly seemed possible, when at last the 
day dawned that would see them start upon their 
way, that they were really going. Louise tried 
to realize, when she opened her eyes that morn- 
ing and looked about her room, that she would 
have crossed the ocean twice and looked upon 
many of the wonders of the old world before she 
should awaken in her own little room at home 
again. .Not even when she stood on the steam- 
er’s deck, surrounded by the group of friends 
who had come to see the travellers off, could 
she believe it all. It was a beautiful day, clear 
and cool, and there was no suggestion of pos- 
sible storms in the blue sky. Neither Louise nor 
Grace had any fears of the voyage except of 
sea-sickness, to which they both thought it pos- 
sible that they might succumb. They had had 
a good deal of amusement over the various rem- 
edies and preventives that had been suggested 
by their friends, and Grace had laughingly de- 
clared that she meant to begin the list and go 
right through it, so that no matter how sick she 
might be, she would know that she had done 
her part at least. 

Like all other experiences of life, there is 
much of joy and much of sadness commingled 
in the starting of an ocean steamer. An obser- 


350 


SILVER BOWLS. 


ver of human nature could have found much 
food for reflection if he had stood upon the 
steamer’s deck and looked at the various parties, 
surrounded by their friends, who were about to 
cross the ocean. To many it was merely a 
pleasure trip ; they were starting out with the 
most joyous anticipations, full of strength and 
vigor to enjoy all that should be before them, 
and with dear friends in the party with whom to 
share their pleasure. 

Some of these were newly married couples, 
who had just begun life’s journey together, and 
the blue sky was in accord with the fair pros- 
pects of happiness which life seemed to hold 
for them. Some were families who had planned 
for this trip for years, and who had saved and 
economized in every possible way that they 
might enjoy the pleasure of travelling in the old 
world, and they were about to enter into the 
realization of these hopes, which had grown the 
dearer to them because they had been so long 
cherished. 

Here and there were invalids, who were 
going to seek health and strength from the 
ocean breezes. Their faces were thin and pale, 
but they looked hopeful, and the friends about 
them were buoying up their courage with stories 
of the marvellous cures that sea voyages had 
wrought before. 


PREPARING FOR THE TRIP. 351 

Standing somewhat apart, as if they felt that 
they had no share in the bright anticipations of 
the greater part of the passengers, were those 
who were leaving their homes and native land 
that they might find strength to bear the heavy 
burden of sorrow which had been laid upon them. 
They had no thoughts of enjoyment, no anticipa- 
tions of delight in the sights of the old world. 
All that they could hope for was that they 
might grow strong enough to endure their heart- 
ache, their longing for the touch of a vanished 
hand, their hearts’ hunger for a beloved one, and 
come back ready to take up life’s duties again, 
gathering the broken threads up where they 
had dropped them, and going on with their work 
with what strength they might gain during this 
rest. 

The last minutes passed swiftly, there were 
so many messages, so many last words and fare- 
well embraces ; but it was not until Louise had 
choked back her tears as she kissed her mother 
for the last time, and watched the little party 
going down the gang-plank, that she really un- 
derstood that the ocean would long roll be- 
tween them before she could touch them again. 

It is a sensation that one does not soon for- 
get — that of standing upon the deck of an ocean 
steamer and looking into the dear faces of the 
friends who line the edge of the wharf. Now 


352 


SILVER BOWLS. 


you can almost reach out your hand and touch 
them, you can speak and exchange last words ; 
but presently, so gently that it is almost im- 
perceptible, the great steamer begins to move ; 
you creep away from the wharf, although it 
seems more as if it were receding from you ; you 
go out into the stream, looking still more ear- 
nestly into the faces that are a little farther 
away now, though yet plainly visible. 

Gradually the steamer swings out into the 
current, and the faces begin to blend together 
and the waving handkerchiefs grow somewhat 
confused. Even yet you could go back if you 
wanted to change your mind, and the ocean 
need not separate you from your loved ones. 
There is but a narrow strip of water between 
the steamer and the wharf. On you go, and as 
you strain your eyes to distinguish the individ- 
ual faces, they slowly blend into a conglomerate 
sea of figures with a cloud of waving handker- 
chiefs that flutter the good-bys they cannot say 
with their lips. 

At last even the wharf melts away into the 
outline of projections that forms the irregular 
edge of the city, and you must needs use a glass 
if you would distinguish the particular wharf 
upon which the party of friends still stands, " 
watching the outgoing steamer. By degrees 
this aid, too, is useless, and you know that the 



Sliver Bowls. Page 352 




PREPARING FOR THE TRIP. 


353 


little panting, noisy tug is the only connection 
between you and the shore you have just left. It 
will take back a message for you, it will even 
take you back if you should wish ; but soon it 
has done its task and the throbs of the migh<ty 
heart of the ocean steamer have begun to carry 
you across the wide ocean. 

When they were quite out of sight of the 
wharf, Louise and Grace rushed down to the 
cabin and scribbled hasty notes to be sent back 
by the pilot boat to their friends at home, and 
then they came up to stand at the end of the 
steamer and look back at the city, whose tall 
steeples and glittering domes were fast passing 
out of sight. It was growing near the end of 
the beautiful afternoon, and the sun was slowly 
sinking towards the horizon. The water was as 
blue as the sky, and it seemed so calm and mo- 
tionless that it was almost impossible to believe 
it could ever be lashed by the wind into tossing 
waves. Everything inspired the voyagers, with 
hope, and Louise forgot her regret at saying 
good-by to her mother, as she looked forward 
with happy anticipation to the trip. 

It was so delightful on the deck that al- 
though their appetites warned them that it was 
supper -time, they were very reluctant to obey 
the summons of the gong and go below. 
Everything had the charm of novelty, however, 

Silver Bowls. 23 


354 


SILVER BOWLS. 


and Mr. Davenport laughed at the amusement 
of the girls as they wondered how they should 
ever get used to their stateroom, and at Grace’s 
emphatic declaration that she could never sleep 
in such a short berth ; that either her head or 
feet must be accommodated outside, or else she 
must shut herself up like a telescope. 

“ You will be surprised to find out how much 
more room you have taken up in the world than 
you really needed,” he said, as their voices 
reached him in the next stateroom. “You 
will consider your stateroom really a spacious 
apartment before you get across. I ’ll tell you 
something else, too, that will make you better 
satisfied : when the ship begins to pitch about 
and you are tossed from one end of your berth 
to the other, and perhaps all about the room, 
you will be very glad that you have n’t any more 
space to occupy. You will think that quite 
enough to be pitched about in, and you ’ll wish 
your berth was so small you had to be wedged 
in it, Gracie.” 

The girls enjoyed their supper very much. 
They were hungry, to begin with, for their excite- 
ment had kept them from doing more than tast- 
ing lunch, and then the novelty made everything 
doubly appetizing. The steamer had her full 
complement of passengers, and the tables were 
all full. 


PREPARING FOR THE TRIP. 355 

It will be quite interesting to see the tables 
thinning out as we get out to sea,” said Mr. 
Davenport, as Grade made some remark about 
the number at the supper table. “ As we get 
into rougher water one and another will lose 
their appetite, until at some meals there will 
be scarcely a quarter of the passengers.” 

“Are you ever seasick?” asked Grace. 

“ I never have been yet,” Mr. Davenport re- 
plied ; “ but I never say I will not be, for I have 
seen so many who boasted of their good sea- 
manship and then came ignominiously to grief, 
that I prefer to be very modest about the 
matter.” 

After supper they went up on deck again, the 
comfortable steamer-chairs were placed in posi- 
tion, and the little party sat there in the gather- 
ing twilight, each of the girls enjoying in her 
own way the novel experience. It was a warm 
evening and even the motion of the steamer did 
not make a sufficiently strong draught of ,air to 
make them feel the need of their wraps. 

“ Papa, after all you said about not taking 
one thing that was not absolutely necessary, I do 
believe you have made us bring lots of things 
that we shall never have the least use for!” 
Grace exclaimed suddenly. “ We may possibly 
want the rugs on a very windy day, but all the 
extra wraps and shawls I am sure we cannot 


356 


SILVER BOWLS. 


want. Just see how comfortable we are to- 
night without even a rug over us, and we wont 
go any faster than this I suppose, so I can’t pos- 
sibly understand how it can be any colder.” 

“ You are a little goosie,” laughed her father, 
“ to reason upon such grounds. We go into a 
different latitude as we go across, and you will 
be very glad of every wrap you have before you 
are through with your trip. I have been across 
often enough to know that there is never any 
danger of taking too many.” 

“Well, it doesn’t seem possible to-night,” 
Grace answered. 

“You will meet with a good deal that your 
philosophy never dreamed of before we get 
through with this trip,” her father answered. 
“Possibly, however, you may not need them, 
because you may be sick and spend all the time 
in your berth. There is that contingency, you 
know.” 

“ Now, papa, that is not fair, to prophesy 
such dreadful things,” Grace answered. “I 
don’t mean to be sick, and you see if I am. Of 
course I may be, but it will spoil the trip, and I 
will see whether the influence of mind over 
matter is not powerful enough to keep me in 
good health.” 

“ Well, we will see how much mind you 
have and how powerful it is,” her father re- 


PREPARING FOR THE TRIP. 


357 


sponded. “ I am sure I hope that neither of 
you will be anything but well enough to enjoy 
every moment of the trip, and by the time we 
reach the other side I think we will see Louise’s 
cheeks growing as rosy as yours.” 

It v/as very pleasant to sit there and listen to 
the throbbing of the engine, the low murmur 
of conversation, and the soft rushing sound of 
the water past the steamer, and to watch the 
stars come out. It was after ten o’clock before 
the girls were willing to entertain the idea 
of going to bed. They had agreed that as the 
stateroom was so small they had better go down 
one at a time ; so Louise went down first and 
stowed herself away on an upper berth, with a 
great deal of amusement at the inconveniences 
which the small space left by their steamer 
trunks caused her. It did not seem possible 
that the two girls could really live in such small 
compass for ten days. 

It necessitated the most extreme neatness, 
and the careful bestowal of everything in its 
place as soon as it was used, to economize the 
space sufficiently to leave them any room for 
themselves, and Grace and Louise had a great 
deal of fun before they settled themselves for 
the night, laughing over their cramped quar- 
ters. 


358 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE VOYAGE. 

For the first three days the Ocean was as 
calm as the surface of a sheltered lake. When 
the girls came upon deck the morning after the 
beginning of the voyage they found that they 
were completely out of the sight of land. Not 
even the faintest streak against the horizon de- 
noted any limit to the boundless stretch of blue 
water upon which they were moving. Louise 
had imagined that when they were once out 
of sight of land there would be a desolate 
feeling, a sense of the greatness of the ocean 
and the smallness of the steamer which would 
be almost awe-inspiring ; but she was surprised 
to find that it seemed like a little world, and 
that she had as strong a sense of security and 
safety as if she were standing upon the solid 
earth instead of upon the deck of an ocean 
steamer. 

% 

After breakfast, for which they had very 
hearty appetites, they came up stairs and settled 
themselves in their steamer-chairs with books 
and let the hours drift slowly away, unbroken by 
any incident except the play of a school of por- 
poises or the passing of a steamer, which was 


THE VOYAGE. 359 

not of as mucli interest now as it would be after 
they had been out of sight of land for a longer 
time. 

The sea air induced a gentle somnolence, 
and when Louise aroused herself after a little 
nap and looked about she found that the major- 
ity of the passengers were asleep in their chairs 
or nodding over their books. The tranquillity 
was very grateful to her, for she was more thor- 
oughly tired out than she had realized in the 
excitement of planning for the trip and making 
the little preparations which were left to her 
after Grace’s thoughtfulness, which had included 
the most necessary things. 

Her position in the store had been a very 
confining one and one which had required all 
her energy, and the duties she had taken upon 
her shoulders in the few hours she had to her- 
self had completely filled her time. She really 
needed a change very much, and the thought- 
fulness of her friend had provided her with one 
of the very best changes possible for a seden- 
tary worker. It had been more than the work 
that had worn her out. There had been the 
continual struggle to bear a great sorrow 
bravely and not let it shadow any one else, and 
time had not softened the great loss which had 
come to Louise. The tie had been too strong 
and too tender a one to be easily broken, and 


360 


SILVER BOWLS. 


although she had tried to be brave and self- 
forgetting, yet such efforts cost more than those 
who see only the results are apt to realize. 

I think perhaps that she missed much that 
would have been hard to bear, in the very thing 
which seemed hardest to her. It was very hard 
to go away among strangers, among those who 
could have no sympathy with her great sorrow 
and loss and who would not utter the words of 
sympathy which are so helpful to us when we 
are struggling along in the path which seems 
too rough to tread, and yet she surely escaped 
very much that would have hurt her and made 
her feel how few there are who know how to 
comfort wisely and tenderly. It is one of the 
mysterious things of life that so often those who 
love us, and would comfort us if they could, are 
the ones that hurt us most sorely. Because 
they love us they grasp with blundering touch 
that which we hold as almost too sacred for 
speech ; they miss the very place where they 
could help and stumble on to the point where 
they hurt instead. 

It has been well said, “As well might those 
on the hither side of mortality instruct the soul 
gone beyond the veil, as souls outside a great 
affliction guide those who are struggling in it.” 
It is only Christ’s sympathy which is so tender 
and perfect that it never fails us ; that always 


THE VOYAGE. 


361 

understands, as our nearest and dearest fail to 
understand, and that waits patiently for the 
wound to heal. And how we learn to love him 
for that patience which we cannot find on this 
earth, for the tenderness that is touched with a 
feeling of our infirmities ! 

Perhaps some loved one who has shared 
your very life is taken away from you. It may 
be a little child in whose life you have lived 
until all consciousness of separate life has been 
often forgotten, and who has absorbed your 
every thought and care. And furthermore, be- 
yond the care you have bestowed upon it, it may 
have been a minister to you to interpret to you 
many a thought of God, many a glimpse into 
his love that could have come to you in no other 
way. Let this little one be taken away from 
you, and who is there but the Comforter who can 
enter into your loss and comfort you? The 
very lack of understanding among those who 
you thought must know and feel with you sets 
you apart in loneliness that would be unbear- 
able did Christ not stand in that desert place of 
grief and open your eyes to his matchless sym- 
pathy. 

And you cling to him the more as all other 
comfort fails you. It was as real a wound, as 
keen a pain, as if your arm had been wrenched 
from your body, and yet the common sense that 


SILVER BOWLS. 


362 

your friends would show in dealing with such a 
hurt forsakes them when they deal with a heart 
wound. They would not think that, the moment 
when your member parted from your body, you 
could rally from the pain, wear a cheerful coun- 
tenance, and plunge into the interests of life 
with unabated zeal. They would see the neces- 
sity for patient waiting for the wound to heal. 
They could understand that nature must take 
her course and heal by degrees the bleeding ex- 
tremity. They would enter the sick chamber 
quietly, and nurse you tenderly back to health, 
and recognize that they only lost time by trying 
to hasten matters. 

But let your heart be wounded till you suffer 
with a pain that no physical anguish could cause 
you, and your friends are liable to forget the 
processes of nature ; they refuse to let time 
gently heal the sufferer. They will not let your 
tears relieve the overburdened heart, but urge 
you to “ get over it ” quickly and absorb your- 
self in other interests, as a nurse rattles toys be- 
fore a baby to stop its tears. 

Only those who have passed through sorrow, 
and but few of those, know how to show the 
sympathy that comforts instead of hurting. You 
may hide your grief from those who you know 
cannot understand it, you may keep back the 
tears and even force the smile, but it is the 


THE VOYAGE. 


3^3 

friend whom you love most and whom you en- 
shrine in your heart for her tenderness, who lets 
grief have its way, and instead of trying to check 
your tears as if they were wrong and to be held 
back, bids you weep, while her tears flow with 
yours. It is a mistaken idea that grief must be 
repressed, and all outward signs of it forced 
back; and but few can understand the sacred- 
ness of sorrow, and the balm it would minister 
for its own healing, if its ministry was not 
marred by careless hands. Those who live the 
nearest to Christ, and have learned of him, can 
minister best to those who grieve. They know 
how to be very patient and gentle with the 
bleeding heart, and recognize that while they 
can give sympathy, comfort must come from 
God. 

It is when human help has failed us that we 
can wrap ourselves about in the pitying tender- 
ness and the matchless sympathy of Christ, and 
because our friends stand so far from us, cling 
the closer to him. And it is better so. We might 
be satisfled with human comfort if it could heal 
our wounds, instead of going to the Great Phy- 
sician for his healing touch. 

Because Louise had been among strangers 
she had not expected to be comforted by her 
friends, but God’s comfort had come to her and 
soothed her heart. She had developed in her 


3^4 


SILVER BOWLS. 


spiritual life, and gained much of the blessing 
of sorrow that she might have lost if friends had 
striven to divert her thoughts from it and had 
tried to fill her mind with other interests. She 
had not been hurt either by the realization that 
but few could understand her loss. Her father 
had interpreted God to her, and it seemed to her 
that she missed something more than merely 
an earthly father’s protection and love in losing 
him. 

As the hours wore away she leaned back in 
her chair, letting her thoughts dwell lovingly 
upon him. It was so restful to be able to have 
this leisure, unbroken by the performance of 
necessary duties, to think of the tender relation- 
ship and all that her father had been to her. 
There was a restfulness in this unbroken calm 
that was very grateful to her. Perhaps in no 
other way is it possible to rest as completely as 
upon an ocean steamer. It is as if a gentle touch 
had been placed upon the hurried pulse, and rest 
had been compelled by the very impossibility of 
action. ' The noisy world is completely shut 
away. No mails keep you in touch with the 
rest of humanity, and your mind need not be 
disturbed by any thoughts except those with 
which you choose to fill it. 

There was much that was interesting to the 
girls in the first day on shipboard. After lunch 


THE VOYAGE. 


365 

they enjoyed going into the steerage and seeing 
how the passengers there were provided for. It 
was interesting to them, too, to study their fellow- 
passengers in the first cabin, and try to fit the 
people to the names upon the printed list. 

It seemed like a long day, though not a tedi- 
ous one, when twilight shut down about them 
again, and the first day at sea was ended. Per- 
haps Grace in the depths of her heart wished 
that the ocean might be a little rougher on the 
morrow, so that she would have a chance to 
prove what kind of a sailor she was going to 
make. She did not express this wish even to 
Louise, however, lest it should come to pass, and 
she might be numbered among the victims of 
sea-sickness. 

The next day passed much as the first one 
had done. People were beginning to feel more 
at home, and to settle themselves down for the 
trip ; and between the times of lolling in the 
steamer chairs, they promenaded the decks, 
played shuffie-board and various other games to 
relieve the monotony of the time. 

It was quite a study to see the different char- 
acters developing in one way or another. One 
4ay before they had all been strangers to each 
other, with their faults and virtues unknown ; 
but in the short space of one day they were be- 
ginning to show their characteristics, and one 


SILVER BOWLS. 


366 

man had already won for himself an unenviable 
character. Although he had only mingled with 
his fellow-passengers for twenty-four hours, he 
had had time enough to show them that he 
meant to have the very best of everything for 
himself, if his own exertions were able to pro- 
cure it for him. He expected special attention 
from the steward at the table, and seemed ag- 
grieved if he was not attended to before every 
one else. If he thought that there was any prob- 
ability of any dessert being limited in quantity, 
he took pains to secure himself a goodly portion 
of it ; and because he liked plenty of air, insisted 
upon the porthole being open at his back, al- 
though a delicate woman who sat near him was 
afraid of the draught and asked him if he would 
not be willing to have it shut. The gruff answer 
that one person might as well suffer from too 
much air as some one else from not enough, 
made the lady change her seat to another table, 
and did not by any means increase the esteem 
in which this passenger was held by those who 
had opportunities of observing him. Securing 
one of the best positions upon the deck for his 
steamer-chair, he settled himself comfortably in 
it and absorbed himself in his book without 
noticing the struggles of a lady near him with 
the intricacies of her chair, which the steward 
had not arranged for her, and ignoring all the 


THE VOYAGE. 367 

little courtesies which the others showed to one 
another. 

There was another passenger who showed 
himself to be animated by a spirit of helpfulness 
to every one with whom he came in contact. He 
helped childish feet up the stairs, brought rugs 
up for elderly ladies, was always ready with a 
pleasant word for any one who spoke to him, 
and while he did not do anything that was un- 
usually kind, yet he made a cheerful atmosphere 
all about him, and every one liked him without 
waiting to analyze their reasons for it. 

The steamer was like a world in miniature, 
and every one upon it was disclosing his character 
to the eyes of his fellow-passengers, even while 
each was studying the rest, and the little deeds 
and words which seemed too small to be taken 
into consideration showed the hidden main- 
spring which guided them, whether it was love 
of self or love of others. 


3^8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 

OPPORTUNITIES. 

The third day was as calm as its predecessor, 
and more than one of the passengers began to 
sigh for rougher weather, that they might see 
the ocean in a storm or prove their seamanship. 
That night their wishes were granted. Louise 
was suddenly awakened by being rolled against 
the side of her berth with considerable violence, 
and she found that the ship was tossing so that 
she was half fearful of falling out of her berth. 
She climbed down and got her rug and another 
pillow, and getting up again, managed to wedge 
herself in her berth so that she would not fall 
out. 

At first she was half frightened, and Grace, 
who had awakened at the same time, was not 
sure that she quite liked the change, but pres- 
ently they both began to laugh at it: it was 
something so entirely new in their experience 
to be rolled from one side to the other of their 
berths, and hear the articles which had not been 
carefully secured tumbling about the floor of 
their stateroom. 

First the ship would roll over to one side, 
and then when the girls had begun to wonder 


OPPORTUNITIES. 


369 

whether she would ever right herself, she would 
pause, and then gradually steady herself. Then 
the inclination would be on the other side, down, 
down, down, until it seemed as if surely she must 
be going over. 

“Papa,” called Grace to her father, “are we . 
having a storm ?” 

“ Oh no,” he answered reassuringly. “We’re 
all right.” 

“ I do n’t see what we are going to do if it 
keeps on rolling this way when we want to get 
up and dress,” said Grace after a little while. 

“ It ’s bad enough when the floor holds still, but 
when we shall have to walk about like flies on a 
wall I don’t see what we are going to do at 
all.” 

“ Perhaps it wont be so rough then,” Louise 
answered sleepily. She had fastened herself 
firmly in her berth and was rather enjoying it. 
In a little while she was asleep again and did 
not wake till she heard the rising bell. 

She leaned over and looked down into 
Grace’s berth. “ Will you get up first or shall 
I ?” she asked. 

Grace moaned. 

“Oh I can’t get up! I don’t believe I shall 
ever get up again till we get across. Oh 
this rolling is so dreadful! I wish I hadn’t 
come !” 


Silver Bowls. 24- 


370 


SILVER BOWLS. 


I ’ll get dressed first and then help you,” 
Louise answered, and dropping down from her 
berth she essayed to dress. Although Grace 
was suffering all the miseries of seasickness, she 
could not refrain from laughing as she watched 
Louise trying to make her toilet under such 
difficult circumstances. The rolling of the 
steamer had increased and the waves washed 
across the porthole every now and then. Every- 
thing that was not securely fastened in place set 
off on a voyage of discovery, and Louise had to 
pursue her brush and hair-pins in all directions. 
At last, after much merriment, she finished her 
toilet and tried to persuade Grace to get up, but 
could not persuade her to move. 

“ I wish I was on deck in my steamer-chair,” 
she admitted, “but I don’t think anything in 
the world would induce me to get up. I am 
wretched enough lying here, and I just know 
how perfectly dreadful it would be to try to 
move about when the steamer do n’t hold still a 
moment. Oh if it would just stop for ten min- 
utes I should be all right, but I don’t know 
what will become of me if this keeps up.” 

“ Suppose I go and get you a cup of coffee ?” 
suggested Louise. 

“Don’t speak of coffee or anything else,” 
implored Grace. “I should think you might 
know better than that, Louise. Go up stairs ifi 


OPPORTUNITIES. 


3/1 


you are dressed, and I will try to go to sleep. 
Tell papa I do n’t want to get up, and please to 
leave me alone.” 

Finding that Grace really wished to be left 
alone, Louise unsteadily made her way up on 
deck. The ocean had completely changed since 
the night before. Then it was lying tranquil 
and almost without a ripple as far as the eye 
could reach, and now it v/as a tossing, tumul- 
tuous mass of waves which came rolling to- 
wards the vessel as if they would engulf her, and 
which tossed her about as lightly as a cork upon 
their crests. 

Louise had always delighted in a storm, and 
while she knew that this was not sufficient com- 
motion of the waters to be dignified by the 
name of a storm, yet she was exhilarated by it. 
Holding on lest she should miss her footing 
and slip across the wet deck or perhaps lose her 
balance, she made her way to the end of the 
steamer and looked at the great masses of' water 
which swept past the ship and melted away in 
the fog which was creeping down. The salt 
spray dashed up and kissed her cheeks, and she 
could fancy that she was a bird riding the waves 
as the steamer tossed up and down. The deck 
was quite deserted except by the stewards who 
were lashing the deck-chairs in place so that they 
should be safe when they should be occupied. 


372 


SILVER BOWLS. 


At last she heard Mr. Davenport’s voice 
behind her : 

“ Well, you turned out to be the better sailor, 
didn’t you?” he said. “I have been trying to 
get Gracie up, but the poor child is so sick she 
can’t be made to understand how much better 
she would be up here in this pure air than down 
in her berth. After a while I am going down 
again, and will bundle her up and bring her on 
deck whether she wants to come or not. You 
feel all right, don’t you?” 

“ Oh yes,” Louise answered, “ I am enjoying 
this so much; 1 like it better than the calm 
water, except that I am sorry it makes others 
sick.” 

“You had better come down and get some 
breakfast now,” Mr. Davenport said, and he 
helped her across the deck and down the stairs 
into the dining saloon. It had a very deserted 
air this morning, for of the twelve occupants of 
their table, Mr. Davenport, Louise, and one 
other young lady were the only representatives, 
and the other tables were scarcely better filled. 
It was weather that proved very conclusively 
whether people were good sailors or not. 

After breakfast Louise went back to her 
stateroom, and by dint of much urging and a 
good deal of assistance, she managed to per- 
suade Grace to make an effort to get up. Her 


OPPORTUNITIES. 


373 


father took her in his arms and carried her up 
to her steamer-chair, which was all ready for 
her, and rolling her rug about her went down 
stairs for a cup of coffee and a roll. The fresh 
air was very reviving, and although Grace did 
not want at first to admit that she was glad she 
had been disturbed, yet in the course of an hour 
she felt so much better that she told Louise she 
hoped she would make her get up, whether she 
wanted to or not, every morning until they 
reached the end of their voyage. 

Louise went down to the stateroom to get an 
extra wrap for Grace, for the morning was so 
cold -that they were glad to wear all their heav- 
iest garments and bundle up well besides. On 
her way back she happened to glance into a 
stateroom the door of which was open, and saw 
its occupant apparently in a great deal of dis. 
tress. 

“ Can I do anything for you ?” asked Louise, 
stopping a moment. 

“ Oh if you would please tell the stewardess 
I want her,” groaned the lady. “ I opened my 
door so I could stop her as she went by, for she 
doesn’t seem to hear the bell and I was just 
wondering how I could get her, for she has n’t 
been down this way.” 

Louise took the wrap up to Grace, and left 
her comfortably tucked up and feeling much 


374 


SILVER BOWLS. 


better as she grew more used to the motion 
of the steamer, and went down again to find 
the stewardess. It was a long search, and 
when at last she found her and gave the mes- 
sage to her, the stewardess replied somewhat 
sharply, 

“ I ’ve got my hands as full as they can be 
without any more sending after me. The lady 
has got to wait until I get around to her state- 
room, for I ’ve plenty else to do.” 

Louise went back to report that she had de- 
livered the message ; but as she felt perfectly 
well herself, she made up her mind that she 
would do whatever she could for the comfort of 
her less fortunate fellow-traveller. 

“The stewardess cannot come for a little 
while, she is so busy,” Louise told the expectant 
sufferer. “Now I wish you would let me do 
whatever I can for you. I am not a bit sick and 
so I ought to help those who need any care, and 
I shall really be very glad to do it.” 

“ Oh but I am afraid you will be sick if you 
stay down stairs,” the lady answered. 

“I don’t think I will,” Louise answered. 
“ Now what can I do for you?” 

“If you really don’t mind,” hesitated the 
lady, “ I would be so glad of a glass of hot wa- 
ter ; and will you please hand me my medicine 
case, in that pocket by the glass ? Thank you ! 


OPPORTUNITIES. 375 

And now there is one thing more, if you are sure 
I am not asking too much.” 

“ I am glad to do anything at all,” Louise 
answered, so cordially that it was impossible to 
doubt her sincerity. 

“ I am so chilly that I think I would feel 
ever so much better if I might have my hot- 
water bag filled.” 

When Louise came back with the hot-water 
bag she straightened up the tumbled berth as 
well as she could, smoothed the pillows, and 
brushed back the lady’s hair and fastened it in a 
little knot where it would not fall across her 
face. 

“ Oh I do n’t know how to thank you,” the 
lady said very gratefully. “ I have been sick 
all night, and I am all by myself and could n’t 
get the stewardess, so I felt quite deserted. I 
am so much more comfortable now that I am 
sure I shall be better wsoon.” 

“ I am sure you would feel better if you 
could come up on deck after a while,” Louise 
said, remembering how it had helped Grace. 
“Shall I come down after you have rested a 
little and help you up ?” 

“ That is too much to let you do,” she an- 
swered ; but when Louise urged the offer she 
accepted it gratefully. 

As Louise came along the narrow passage 


SILVER BOWLS. 


376 

on her way back to the deck she heard a baby’s 
cry coming from a stateroom beside her, and 
the stewardess’ voice saying decidedly, 

“ I have n’t any time to mind people’s babies 
for them. I do n’t know, I am sure, what you 
are going to do, but I have all the ladies to wait 
on and most of them are sick this morning ; and 
so I can’t take it a minute, not if it cried ever so 
much.” 

She bounced out into the passage-way as she 
spoke, and Louise, thinking that she was not 
very obliging at any rate, stopped her to ask 
what the baby was crying about and whether 
its mother was sick. 

“ Yes, ma’am, she ’s sick, as every one else 
seems to be. They always do get sick all at 
once,” she added with some asperity, as if it was 
of malice prepense that she had so many in- 
valids upon her hands at once. “ I suppose the 
baby ’s crying because it wants to be taken care 
of, but it a’n’t my place, and I have n’t time 
anyhow to mind it for her. I never could see 
what people want to bring babies on shipboard 
for.” 

Still the baby cried on, and Louise, knock- 
ing at the door, opened it a little way to ask, 

“ Could I amuse the baby a little while for 
you?” 

“ Come in,” the mother answered. “ It is 


OPPORTUNITIES. 


377 


very kind in you to think of it. Poor little 
thing, I can’t hold my head up, and she is so 
uncomfortable that I do n’t wonder she is crying 
so. 

Louise did not wonder either. The berth 
was small enough for one person, but the mother 
had been obliged to put the baby at the back of 
the berth in which she was lying, lest it should 
fall out, and the little creature looked the very 
picture of discomfort. 

Its mother was a young woman ; she scarcely 
seemed more than eighteen, and she looked 
really too ill to lift her head. She had given 
the baby a gingersnap to amuse itself with, and 
its face was now an uninviting mass of ginger- 
bread and tears. It opened its eyes for a moment 
to look at Louise, and then shutting them, cried 
harder than ever. 

“Is she shy?” asked Louise, thinking that 
her first work must be to make it a little 
cleaner. She was not quite as fastidious as 
some people, but she certainly could not take 
care of quite such a dirty baby unless it ab- 
solutely refused to be made clean. 

“ Oh no, she is n’t shy. She will go to you, I 
know,” the mother answered. “ I am sorry she 
is so mussy, but I couldn’t get up to fix any 
breakfast for her, and I could n’t keep her wait- 
ing till the stewardess had time to fix it, so I 


378 


SILVER BOWLS. 


had to give her that gingerbread. She ’s hungry 
too, and that ’s partly why she is crying.” 

“Where could I get her something to eat ?” 
asked Louise. “ In the saloon ?” 

“If you don’t mind warming this oatmeal 
for her,” the mother said, and showed Louise 
where the utensils were for preparing the child’s 
food. 

It was not an easy task to warm a liquid sub- 
stance with the steamer rocking as it was, but by 
putting the little alcohol lamp down in the 
marble washbasin, where it could not set fire to 
anything, and steadying herself as well as she 
could, she at last accomplished the task. 

Taking the baby, a plump child of some 
eighteen months, up in her arms, she sponged 
off the gingerbread and tears and gave it some 
breakfast. The tears ceased to flow at once, and 
the little creature ate so ravenously that Louise 
knew how hungry it must have been. 

“ Shall I wrap her up and take her up on 
deck for a while?” Louise asked, when the 
baby had finished its breakfast. 

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” the 
mother said gratefully. “ I think I will feel 
better myself after a little, and then I can get 
up and take her.” 

Louise bundled the child up in its warmest 
wraps, and staggered along towards the stairs, 


OPPORTUNITIES. 


379 


wondering how she should manage to go up 
without running the risk of falling and hurting 
the little one. 

As she stood at the foot of the stairs, wish- 
ing that Mr. Davenport would happen to come, 
the gentleman who had such an unpleasant rep- 
utation for selfishness came past, and ventur- 
ing to ask help on the baby’s behalf that she 
would not have asked on her own, Louise 
said. 

Excuse me ; will you please carry this baby 
up stairs for me ? I am afraid of falling with it, 
the steamer is rolling so.” 

She had not supposed that the gentleman 
would enjoy the task, for he had so far never 
shown the least willingness to be of any service 
to any of his fellow-passengers, but she did not 
suppose he would refuse, and she really needed 
assistance if she was to get the baby safely to 
the top of the stairs. 

“ I must beg you to excuse me,” was the an- 
swer. “ I am not used to carrying babies. 
People should n’t bring babies on such a trip as 
this if they cannot take care of them without 
bothering other people.” 

Louise flushed with indignation. 

The baby’s mother is sick,” she answered, 
“ and I am going to take care of it for her for a 
while. I should think that those of us who 


380 


SILVER BOWLS. 


are not sick might be willing to do a little to 
make others more comfortable.’’ 

“ As I do n’t expect to be dependent upon the 
public for care, I do n’t see any reason for turn- 
ing nurse myself,” the man answered, and he 
went on up the stairs, leaving Louise indignant, 
with the baby in her arms. Just then the deck 
steward came along, and seeing Louise, offered 
to carry the baby up stairs for her. After she 
reached the deck she managed to make her way 
without any difficulty to her steamer-chair. 

Grace opened her eyes in amazement when 
she saw her friend’s burden. 

“ Where in the world did you get that baby ?” 
she asked. 

Louise explained, while the baby, comfort- 
able after its breakfast and tired with its long 
cry, nestled down in her arms and went to 
sleep. 

“ What a dear girl you are to help others !” 
Grace said. I wish I could help, too, but 
though I feel pretty well while I sit still, I know 
I shall add myself to the sick-list if I try to stir 
about. I will tell you what I can do, though. If 
you will put the baby in my lap, it can take its 
nap with me just as well as with you, and then 
you can go on with your ministrations if you 
wish.” f 

Louise was willing to give up the baby, for 


OPPORTUNITIES. 


381 

she had been very sorry for the young mother, 
and wished that she might help her get dressed 
and come up on deck, but it had not seemed 
possible to do more than take care of the baby. 
Depositing her sleeping burden in her friend’s 
lap, she went down stairs again, and helped the 
mother get dressed and come up stairs where 
the air was fresh and pure. Then going back 
to her first patient she persuaded her also to try 
to get up, and helped her into her garments, 
and carrying the rugs and extra wraps, assisted 
her up to the deck. 

Her chair was not to be seen, so Louise 
placed her in her own, while Mr. Davenport 
went to look up the missing chair. There were 
many of the passengers that day who had reason 
to be glad that among their fellow-travellers 
there were some who had learned how to be 
helpful. There was a deaconess among the 
passengers in the garb of her order, and she too 
was moving about among those who were suf- 
fering from seasickness, finding nothing too 
distasteful to do which would add to any one’s 
comfort. 

Once she met Louise in the passage-way as 
the latter was carrying the baby down to its 
stateroom. She smiled and touched the silver 
badge of royalty that hung upon her own dress. 

“ You too are a daughter of the King,” she 


SILVER BOWLS. 


38^ 

said. “ It is a joy to know that we can always 
find service for our King, no matter where we 
go, is it not?” 

Toward evening the steamer rolled even more 
than during the day, and some of the passen- 
gers who had maintained their equilibrium until 
then were added to the list of the seasick in- 
valids. Among them was the man who that 
morning had declined to help any one else on 
the score that he would not need assistance him- 
self. He fought off the complaint as long as 
possible, but when he succumbed, no one com- 
plained more loudly or wanted more attention 
than he did. The next morning, when Louise 
was on deck, she saw him dragging himself up 
the stairs and standing forlornly in the door- 
way, holding fast to the sides to keep from 
plunging out. Apparently he had quite ex- 
hausted his strength in the effort to get up 
stairs, and had none left with which to begin an 
uncertain expedition about the slippery deck to 
look for his steamer-chair. Several of the pas- 
sengers passed him as they came out, but he 
had not comported himself in such a manner 
that he could claim sympathy from any one. 
Louise remembered something that she wanted 
down stairs, and as she went to get it she had 
to pass through the door where this man was 
standing. 


OPPORTUxNITIES. 


383 


He did not recognize her as the young girl 
who had asked a favor of him the previous morn- 
ing which he had refused, and looking at her 
with an expression of abject misery, he said, 

“ Would you be so very kind as to get a 
steamer-chair out of that heap for me ? I do n’t 
care which one. I ’ll look my own up when I 
feel a little better.” 

Louise’s first impulse, and not a wholly un- 
natural one under the circumstances, was to re- 
fuse, but she thought better of it, and taking 
pity on his wretchedness, brought him a chair 
and held it steady for him until the steward 
came to lash it in place. 

She could not resist saying, however, as she 
left him, 

“ I am glad to have been of use to you. I 
think those of us who are not sick should do all 
we can for the comfort of others.” 

He had the grace to look ashamed as the 
words brought to his mind the circumstance in 
which he had shown himself to be so disobliging 
and so unwilling to be helpful to others. 


384 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 

LAND ahead! 

The worst of the passage was over for those 
who were affected by the rough weather, and the 
next experience of the voyage was a heavy fog 
which closed down around the steamer and en- 
veloped it in a veil so thick that the passengers 
could not see the length of the ship before 
them. It was cold and raw, and all the wraps and 
rugs were in requisition for comfort. The trip 
was not at all too long to please Louise, who en- 
joyed the life on shipboard exceedingly, but 
there were many who had not enjoyed it as 
much as she had and were very impatient to 
see the first glimpse of land. 

It was the evening of the ninth day when 
they began to watch the place in the horizon 
where they had been told land would first ap- 
pear. Louise had always fancied that it would 
be a long, low streak against the sky, so when 
the first shout of “ Land !” was raised, and Mr. 
Davenport lent her his glass to look through, 
and pointed it out to her, she could see nothing 
which she could even imagine was land. 

“ I can’t see it,” she said in disappointed 
tones, putting the glass down. 


LAND AHEAD ! 385 

“ Let me look !” exclaimed Grace, who had 
just joined the party. 

She was not more successful than Louise, 
until her father told her that the little dark 
cloud hanging in the air, just above the horizon, 
was the land they were looking for. She saw it 
then without any difficulty, and giving the glass 
to Louise, she also could distinguish this cloud. 
It was high land, Mr. Davenport told them, and 
that was why they saw the top of the hills first 
instead of the low land. 

Soon the evening gathered and they could 
not see even the dim outlines which had begun 
to be visible without the glass ; and then every 
one added the last words to the letters which 
had been written on the way over, and which 
were to be mailed the next day. All the pack- 
ing was done that night, and before they went to 
bed the bright light from a lighthouse told them 
that they had once more reached inhabited 
land and were nearly at the end of theit* long 
voyage. 

Although she would have been perfectly sat- 
isfied if the trip had lasted some days longer, 
Louise was as excited as was Grace at the pros- 
pect of landing, and she awoke at an early hour 
in the morning that she might see all that was 
to be seen. After the many days in which only 
the ocean, and of late nothing but the thick veil 

silver Bowls; 2 ^ 


SILVER BOWLS. 


386 

of fog, had been seen, it was a beautiful sight 
that fell upon the eyes. They had entered the 
river Clyde, and its banks sloped gently down to 
the water’s edge, laid out in fields, separated by 
hedges, that wore different shades, according to 
the grain with which they were planted. It 
seemed almost like a toy landscape, it was so 
carefully laid out and so exquisitely neat. The 
harvest fields with their little stacks, looking as 
if they had been clipped by one pattern, and 
then the fields carefully swept, the picturesque 
houses, the old castles, the lighthouses built out 
on projecting points of land, all made a picture 
not to be forgotten. Ailsa Craig, an immense 
rocky island height, lifted its head from the 
water and was a nesting-place for thousands of 
sea-gulls, who were wheeling about it in great 
circles, their wide wings gleaming like silver in 
the morning sun. 

Whatever the weather might have been dur- 
ing the trip, no one could wish for a lovelier day 
than the one upon which the passengers steamed 
up the Clyde, and they saw all the beauties of 
that beautiful river to perfection. At noon they 
anchored before Gourock, and by means of the 
tender were landed on the wharf. The discom- 
forts of an hour in the hot custom house awaited 
them, and every one was glad when that ordeal 
was over at last and they were seated in the odd 


LAND AHEAD ! 387 

little compartment cars and steaming away to 
Glasgow. 

“ Can you believe we are really here ?’' asked 
Grace, as the cars started and she seated herself 
beside her friend. 

“ It does seem almost too good to be true,” 
Louise responded, as she looked eagerly out of 
the window that she might not miss any of the 
sights in this new world. 

I quite envy you having all this to see for 
the first time,” Mr. Davenport remarked as he 
watched their enthusiasm over everything. 

“ I suppose it does n’t seem strange after you 
have seen it all once before,” Louise remarked. 

“ Now there is just one thing that I am going 
to insist upon,” said Mr. Davenport. “ I wont 
manage your money matters for you, for I shall 
have enough to do to look after all that I have 
to see to. To-night I will give you each a sup- 
ply of money, and you must learn to count it, 
and know how much you have, and add it up 
every night and see how much you have lost. 
You may laugh. Miss Gracie, but you wont find 
it very easy work. You think you know your 
tables, and that is all that is wanted ; but I as- 
sure you it will be some days before you will 
have any idea how much money you have in 
your pocketbook.” 

“ I had not thought about that,” said Louise. 


SILVER BOWLS. 


388 

‘‘ But I suppose it will be quite an accomplish- 
ment to make change in a coinage we are not 
used to.” 

They were glad when the train stopped and 
Glasgow was reached. Tired and hungry, their 
first step was to go to their rooms, wash off the 
cinders and dust of the train, and rest a little, 
and then they enjoyed their dinner. 

In the afternoon they went out to look about 
the city, and as Mr. Davenport had nothing to 
do in Glasgow, and intended to remain there a 
day to let the girls see the city, he was at their 
disposal, as he warned them he would not often 
be. It was enough to the two girls at first just 
to look about them, at the houses which seemed 
so very old and grimy with age, compared with 
modern cities, which appear very new in con- 
trast. 

There was so much to see that they did not 
know what they wanted to do first, and when 
Mr. Davenport suggested that they should visit 
the cathedral, they were delighted with the 
plan. If they had seen some of the larger cathe- 
drals first, they might have been disappointed in 
the Glasgow one, but as it was the first one they 
visited, they enjoyed its beauties exceedingly. 
They climbed the hill behind the cathedral and 
roamed about the Necropolis, the city of the 
dead, with its beautiful monuments, and looked 


LAND ahead! 


389 

down upon the busy thoroughfares and upon the 
gravestones, which were laid as thickly as if they 
were paving-stones about the edifice. 

An inscription upon one of the monuments 
attracted Louise’s attention, and she copied it for 
Fred: 

“ Remember, man, as you pass by. 

As you are now, so once was I. 

As I am now, so you must be. 

Therefore prepare to follow me.” 

It surprised the girls very much to find that 
instead of being in the better part of the city, as 
they had naturally supposed a cathedral would 
be, the people who lived in the neighborhood 
were of the poorest classes, and the houses were 
low and overcrowded with occupants. The chil- 
dren particularly aroused the sympathy of the 
girls. They were poorly clad and ragged and 
dirty, and they noticed that many of them were 
deformed in some way, and gave evidencp of the 
early age when they were turned out to take 
care of themselves. The women too seemed 
squalid and poverty-stricken. They were bare- 
footed, and stood in their doorways gossiping, 
for the most part with a shawl flung about their 
shoulders, in whose folds a young baby was fre- 
quently supported. 

The girls were so shocked at the pitifulness 
of the scene that it spoiled their enjoyment of 


390 


SILVER BOWLS. 


the sight spread out before them, as they stood 
by the monument erected to the memory of the 
great Reformer, John Knox, and looked out over 
the tall gray buildings. 

Little English daisies with their pink tips. 
Burns’ “ wee modest crimson-tipped flower,” 
bloomed at their feet, and Louise stooped and 
picked one to put away in her diary. They spent 
a pleasant hour rambling through the cathedral, 
looking at its windows and going through the 
crypts below, and then found themselves tired 
enough to be glad to go back to the hotel. 

“ We will rest to-night, and then go out early 
in the morning and see some of the other sights, 
and start for the Lochs in the afternoon,” Mr. 
Davenport said, after supper. Both of the girls 
were quite ready to agree with this plan, for 
after their confinement on shipboard they were 
sufficiently unused to walking to feel quite fa- 
tigued with their afternoon’s walk, and by nine 
o’clock they were both sound asleep and dream- 
ing of all that they had seen. 

In the morning they took a carriage and 
drove about the city, and then after an early 
lunch took the train for the head of Loch Lo- 
mond. 

Too often the traveller has to view this queen 
of lakes through the veil of mist which trails 
down the sides of the mountains and creeps 


LAND AHEAD ! 


391 


across the water, but to-day the party were fa- 
vored by the brightest of sunshine. The only 
drawback to their complete enjoyment was a 
keen, cold wind, which made them shiver, 
August day though it was, when they left the 
shelter of the huge smoke-stack on the little 
steamer which plied up and down the lake. The 
black waters of the loch were rippled into little 
waves by the wind, and tiny white caps crowned 
their crests. The velvety mountains or Bens 
rose up one behind another, melting away in 
amethyst in the distance, and many besides our 
party of tourists exclaimed in delight over the 
beautiful view which extended before them as 
they boarded the steamer. 

Sir Walter Scott has immortalized Loch Lo- 
mond and its sister Loch Katrine, and there are 
so many stories and legends attaching to this 
part of Scotland that there is scarcely an island, 
an old ruin, a clachan, or small village, a bay, a 
waterfall, a hill, that has not its legend. The 
trip up the lake, with its wooded islands, its little 
bays, its narrow straits, and the mountain crests, 
in each seam and scar of which the sunlight 
nestled, made a picture that would long linger 
in the memories of all the party. 

Louise was almost speechless with delight, as 
her eyes drank in the beauty of the scene. With 
guide-books in hand they noted all the places of 


392 


SILVER BOWLS. 


special interest, and read the stories connected 
with some of the places that had been sung in 
the lays of the Scottish minstrel. They left the 
steamer at Inversnaid, where they were to take 
a coach over to Loch Katrine, and one of the 
customs that amused the girls was the charge of 
a fee for using the wharf in landing. 

Between the wharf and the hotel there was a 
garden where the girls feasted their eyes before 
they went up the walk that led to the hostelry. 
An old-fashioned garden it was, where the 
flowers ran riot in a wide bed that bordered the 
vegetable garden. Roses grew in profusion and 
were trained over the stone wall. They were 
larger and more double than any the girls had 
ever seen, and they were enthusiastic in their 
admiration of them. Large poppies flaunted 
their crimson skirts, and old-fashioned phlox and 
sweet william were massed together. There 
were large beds of pansies of unusual size, with 
fine pencillings on their white petals, and the 
old gardener who was at work in the garden was 
so pleased with the admiration of the visitors for 
his pets that he gave them each a bunch. 

The hotel was a quaint gabled building, sug- 
gestive of home feeling and comfort. As the 
guests were ushered up to their rooms by a 
white-capped maid the dinner-bell rang, and 
they hastened to prepare for the meal with ap- 


LAND ahead! 


393 

petites sharpened by their sail up the lake in 
the keen wind. 

The view that was framed in by the dining- 
room windows was one which might well en- 
chant an artist’s eye : the garden, with its gay 
blossoms, sloping down to the waters of the 
loch, their calm dark waters touched with the 
sunset glow, and the velvety shoulder of the 
great Ben opposite breaking the sky lines and 
standing out massive and grim against the 
clouds. 

While they were at dinner the sound of a 
bagpipe was heard, and looking through the 
window they saw a Highlander in his native 
costume, skirling away upon his bagpipes and 
adding the final charm to the hour with his mu- 
sic. After dinner they wandered up to a lodge 
on the hill behind them, in the long twilight, 
and then stood on the little bridge and looked 
down upon the falls, which fell like a bridal veil 
of filmy lace down the rocky side of the hill. 

“ Just think, it is light enough to see to read 
out of doors yet, and it is nine o’clock !” Grace 
exclaimed “ I never imagined such a twilight.” 

“Isn’t it perfectly delightful!” said Louise 
dreamily, as she looked out over the dark waters 
of the loch and tried to realize that she was 
really in the land that has been immortalized in 
song. 


394 


SILVER BOWLS. 


“ How would you like a row by moonlight ?” 
asked Mr. Davenport, and as both the girls as- 
sented with delight, he bargained for a boat, and 
in a few minutes he had pushed away from the 
pebbly beach and was rowing with swift strong 
strokes down the loch. The moon came out 
before the last of the daylight had gone, and it 
was almost as bright as if it were day. 

Rob Roy’s cave lies up this way,” said Mr. 
Davenport, stopping to rest, “ and if my memory 
serves me right, it is somewhere over there by 
those great rocks.” 

What is his cave like, papa ?” asked Grace. 

It is a natural cave made by the overlapping 
of great rocks,” answered her father, “ and it is 
said to be large enough to hold as many as sixty 
men at once. It never seemed more than half 
that size to me, however. The opening is be- 
tween two rocks, and one can look down into 
the cave.” 

Although it was nearly ten years since Mr. 
Davenport had been on the loch before, he re- 
membered the place perfectly, and landed with- 
in two feet of the opening which is the entrance 
to the cave. He tied the boat to an overhanging 
tree, and the girls climbed up on the rocks and 
peered down into the dark recesses of the cave. 
Mr. Davenport lighted a match so that they could 
have a glimpse of the depths, and then they re- 


LAND AHEAD i- 


395 


turned to the boat again. Grace insisted upon 
relieving her father from rowing, and the two 
girls, each taking an oar, rowed the rather un- 
wieldy boat back to the hotel. 

It was after ten o’clock when they reached 
their rooms, and they were soon tucked up un- 
der heavy blankets, which were very acceptable 
in this cool climate, and fast asleep. It seemed 
as if they had scarcely closed their eyes before 
they heard the rising-gong in the hall, and only 
the thought of the pleasure that was awaiting 
them in a coach-ride over the shoulders of the 
bens made them sleepily rub their eyes open 
and waken for the day. 


39 ^ 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 

It was a threatening day. Mist veiled the 
loch and the ben which had stood out so bold- 
ly against the sky just opposite the hotel on the 
night before, but those who were weather-wise 
said that the mist was only coquetting with the 
loch, and that the sun would soon shine out 
brightly. In any case they had not time to stay 
over a day, as it was necessary that they should 
go through the lakes as quickly as possible, for 
Mr. Davenport’s business was in Edinburgh. 

The coach with its four magnificent horses 
drew up before the door just as the steamer 
came in sight on her way down the loch, 
bringing passengers which were to take the 
coach here at Inversnaid. Grace and her father 
and Louise were the only passengers from the 
hotel to go on the coach, so they secured the 
front seat by the driver, and while they were 
sitting there waiting for the steamer the sun 
broke through the mist and banished it as if it 
had melted beneath his touch. 

As soon as the steamer landed and the fees 
were paid there was a wild rush for seats on the 
first coach, which was soon filled, and then an- 


OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 


397 


other one had a full complement of passengers. 
With a crack of the long whip and an encoura- 
ging shout to the horses, the coach started, and 
the animals sprang forward up the long slope 
as if they were proud of their strength and 
delighted in using it. 

The driver was a delightful companion, one 
of the canniest of Scotchmen, with a rich burr at 
the end of his tongue, and he rolled out a hearty 
chuckling assent to everything the girls said. It 
was so fascinating to them to hear him talk that 
they did their best to beguile him into conversa- 
tion and soon succeeded. He sang bits of Scotch 
songs for them, as they rolled swiftly along the 
smooth roads, breaking off suddenly every now 
and then to apostrophize his horses in a deep 
growling guttural, at which his companions could 
hardly conceal their amusement. 

Louise noticed little bits of wood fastened to 
the telegraph wires at regular intervals, and she 
asked their use, as it was something new to her. 
The driver explained that it was to warn the 
grouse not to fly against them, and the girls 
wondered much whether it was out of regard to 
the birds or to the wires that this precaution 
was taken. 

The holly-trees, with their new growth of 
tender green leaves against the darker green of 
the older leaves, won their admiration, and the 


SILVER BOWLS. 


398 

grass beside the road was spangled with yellow 
dandelions, rather less double than our own. 
Black-faced sheep were grazing on the velvety 
sides of the bens, some of them with long 
curled horns that looked as if nature had in- 
tended them for the animal to fall upon, if it 
should lose its balance in a precipitous place. A 
deep wooded glen, with the Arklet running 
along the bottom of the gorge like a silver 
thread, was beside the road for some distance. 
Men at work in a peat -bog arpused the girls’ 
curiosity, as they could not imagine what they 
were doing ; and the driver enjoyed raising 
their curiosity to its highest pitch before he re- 
lieved it by telling them. A little farther on he 
pointed out to them a low thatched cottage, 
nestling at the foot of a ben, and told them it 
was said to be the birthplace of Ellen, Rob 
Roy’s wife. 

As they passed Loch Arklet, lying serene 
and mirror-like with green fields about it, the 
clouds began to gather again, and rain-drops 
pattered down. Fortunately the wind was at 
their backs, so that beneath the shelter of their 
umbrellas the girls were well protected. By the 
time they reached Stronachlacher, at the head 
of Loch Katrine, the rain was pouring down in 
good earnest, with no signs of abating, and when 
the little steamer “ Rob Roy ” came up to the 


OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 


399 


wharf in the course of a few minutes, the girls 
saw with dismay that there was every prospect of 
their being thoroughly wet through. There was 
a little cabin beneath the deck, but very few 
of the passengers noticed it, and so they sat on 
the deck, huddled together under a roof of over- 
lapping umbrellas, a dripping but very good- 
natured crowd. Most of the party were Ameri- 
cans, with here and there a bride and groom from 
Edinburgh or London who were taking their 
bridal trip among the lakes. 

Loch Katrine lacked the bold beauty of Loch 
Lomond at the lower end, but as they went on 
it increased in beauty. When they passed the 
famous Ellen’s Isle, there was a general exclama- 
tion of delight, for apart from its poetic interest 
it was well worthy of admiration in itself, with 
its thickly wooded eminence and its gray rocks 
overhanging the water’s edge, to which great 
masses of heather in full bloom were clinging. 
Even in the rain it was beautiful, so the girls 
could imagine what it must be when it was ca- 
ressed by the sunlight. 

They landed at a picturesque pier, with a 
thatched roof, and taking another coach, drove 
through the winding pass of the Trossachs to 
the world-famed hotel bearing that name. The 
storm beat down fiercely upon them as they 
were whirled rapidly along through the pass. 


400 


SILVER BOWLS. 


and all their attention was absorbed in holding 
their umbrellas, if possible, so that a little rivulet 
of water need not trickle down the back of 
somebody’s else neck. They were glad to reach 
shelter at last, and put on dry clothing and get 
thoroughly warmed through, for it had been a 
cold as well as a wet ride. The girls were de- 
lighted with the dining-room to which they re- 
paired as soon as they had made themselves 
comfortable. It was a long room, perhaps 
seventy -five feet in length, with the ceiling 
panelled in hard pine. On one side of the room 
quaint latticed windows made Grace declare 
that it reminded her of a monkish refectory. 
On the other side of the room, windows of the 
same shape had wide low window-seats which 
were filled with potted plants of unusual size 
and beauty. 

“ Did you ever know anything like this ?” 
said Grace, when the waiter had taken their 
orders. “ I do n’t feel at all as if I had given an 
order, that waiter is such a majestic personage. 
I feel merely as if he had consulted my prefer- 
ence with his stately courtesy and had gone 
away to deliberate about the matter and decide 
whether it was best for me to have what I 
wanted.” 

“And look at that side-table with its huge 
joints,” answered Louise. “ Somehow that makes 


OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 


401 

me think of the days of wassail. It is n’t one 
bit like our commonplace, nineteenth century 
life.” 

“ I can tell you one thing,” said Mr. Daven- 
port, who was enjoying a veal and ham pie. 
“ This ‘ veal and hammer ’ would evoke the 
shades of Silas Wegg, even if he was not as 
hungry as I am. Admire everything as much 
as you please, but don’t neglect your lunch, 
for it ’s too good to be slighted.” 

“You will see that we haven’t any intention 
of slighting it,” Grace responded, as she de- 
voted herself to the contents of her plate. 

By the time they had finished eating the 
rain had stopped, and although the roads were 
too wet to permit of taking a walk, yet they 
could go out and look around them. The hotel 
was very much like a castle, with its turreted 
towers. Behind it rose Ben A’an, and before it 
lay like a sheet of silver the waters, of Loch 
Achray. Upon the elevated plateau before the 
hotel were four large holly-trees, trimmed in a 
flat round shape, like immense cushions. Green 
fields stretched down to the waters of the loch, 
and sheep were grazing peacefully beside the 
hedges, while over on the sides of the ben that 
rose beyond the loch were other flocks feeding, 
looking like white woolly balls, they were so 
far away. 

Silver Bowls. 26 


402 


SILVER BOWLS. 


At a little distance down the road was a 
large vegetable and flower garden, even exceed- 
ing in beauty the one which the girls had so 
greatly admired at Inversnaid. 

I am sorry it is raining,” said Mr. Daven- 
port as he joined them. “You will miss paying 
a visit to Ellen’s Isle, which is one of the chief 
objects of interest in Loch Katrine. It is alto- 
gether too wet and threatening to think of going 
this afternoon, and to-morrow we must start for 
Edinburgh.” 

“It will be too late to do any business Satur- 
day evening when we reach Edinburgh, wont 
it?” asked Grace. 

“ Why, daughter ?” inquired her father. 

“ I was wondering if we could not stay here 
over Sunday, and go on to Edinburgh Monday 
morning,” she answered. “Then if it should 
be clear to-morrow we could go to Ellen’s Isle 
and some of the other delightful spots around 
here, and yet you would not really be losing 
very much time from business.” 

“ I should lose at least half a day,” her father 
said thoughtfully. “ But I am perfectly willing 
to lose it to let you girls enjoy the beauties of 
this delightful spot. You can stay here over 
Sunday, and then we can make an early start 
on Monday. If it is clear to-morrow, you can 
have a very delightful day.” 


OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 


403 


All of the party had some letters to write, 
so they presently adjourned to the coinfortable 
reading-room and forgot the rain which dashed 
against the windows, in their chat with the dear 
ones at home. When they went to bed that 
night there was no prospect of a clear day on 
the morrow, and they decided that if it should 
still be stormy they might as well go on with- 
out delaying another day there. 

When Grace opened her eyes the next 
morning, she found the room flooded with sun- 
shine, and rousing Louise, she exclaimed, “ Oh 
it is pleasant after all, Louise ! What a perfect 
day we shall have ! Let us get up and go for a 
walk before breakfast.” 

Louise was as eager as her friend to explore 
the beauties of this lovely place, so the two girls 
made a hasty toilet and went out without rous- 
ing Mr. Davenport, who enjoyed his morning 
nap when it was practicable for him to have it. 

It was only six o’clock, so they had nearly 
two hours before breakfast, and they decided to 
walk down to the Brigg o’ Turk, which Mr. 
Davenport had told them was within walking 
distance of the hotel. It was a delightful walk 
along a winding road, shaded by trees, and with 
a great bed of bracken waving backwards and 
forwards in the morning breeze like the waves 
of a sea. 


404 


SILVER BOWLS. 


They passed the bright waters of another 
little loch on the way, and at last came to the 
bridge, which they recognized from a picture of 
it which they had seen the night before. It was 
a beautiful picturesque structure of stone, thro\\Ti 
across a little stream which ran babbling and 
purling along as if it were in haste to get to its 
journey’s end. Delicate bluebells swayed upon 
their slender stems near its banks, and a per- 
fect reflection of the bridge was mirrored in the 
water, fretted with tiny ripples. 

They sat down to rest under the shade of an 
old tree, and Grace, drawing a small copy of the 
Lady of the Lake ” from her pocket, read a few 
verses from the opening canto, concluding with 
the lines, 

“ And when the Brigg o’ Turk was won, 

The foremost horseman rode alone.” 

It invested the familiar poem with intense in- 
terest to look upon the bens and the loch that 
Scott described, and which he had peopled with 
his characters. 

The girls were both hungry, and stopping 
at a little cottage beside the loch they procured 
some milk, which the good woman insisted upon 
giving them, refusing to accept any pay for it. 
They hastened back to the hotel lest they should 
be late for breakfast, and as they turned a bend in 
the road and came in sight of the beautiful loch 


OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 


405 


gleaming in the sun, Grace exclaimed enthusi- 
astically, Louise, did you ever see anything 
more lovely ? Do you wonder Scott says, 

“ ‘ Lovely Loch Achray ! 

Where shall he find in foreign land 
So lone a lake, so sweet a strand !’ ” 

Mr. Davenport was on the porch, waiting for 
them, and had been somewhat uneasy lest they 
might have lost their way, since the waiter had 
told him that it was more than two hours since 
the young ladies had gone out. His fears were 
relieved when he saw their happy faces, and 
as they breakfasted he heard about the walk 
and all that they had seen. 


4o6 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

IN THE TROSSACHS. 

Aeter the meal was despatched they started 
for Loch Katrine. It was quite a long* walk, 
through the woods and between the rocky walls 
of the pass of the Trossachs, but the girls in- 
sisted that they were not tired and would rather 
walk than ride. When they reached the wildest 
part of the pass, the sun’s rays were almost shut 
out, and the light was as subdued as if it had 
been twilight. 

“ Let us sit down here and look at this, so 
that we will always remember it,” Grace ex- 
claimed, and the little party seated themselves 
upon the trunk of a fallen tree and looked 
about them in admiration. The scene was at 
once the wildest and grandest that it was pos- 
sible to conceive. The walls of the pass were of 
precipitous rocks, their rugged outlines softened 
by wild flowers which clung to their precari- 
ous support, and bloomed as luxuriantly as if 
they were nurtured in the richest soil. Great 
masses of bracken stirred gently in the air, and 
long trailing vines depended from the heights 
of the rocks. 

Papa, I know you do n’t like poetry,” ex- 


IN THE TROSSACHS. 


407 


claimed Grace presently, “ but do let me read 
you what Scott says about this pass, it is such a 
perfect description of it.” 

Scarcely waiting for her father’s nod of as- 
sent, she began, 

“ The western waves of ebbing day 
Rolled o’er the glen their level way ; 

Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 

Was bathed in floods of living fire, 

But not a setting beam could glow 
Within the dark ravines below. 

Where twined the path in shadow hid 
Round many a rocky pyramid — 

Shooting abruptly from the dell 
Its thunder-splintered pinnacle ; 

Round many an insulated mass. 

The native bulwarks of the pass. 

Huge as the tower which builders vain 
Presumptuous piled on Shinar’s plain. 

The rocky summits, split and rent. 

Formed turret, dome, or battlement. 

Or seemed fantastically set 
With cupola or minaret. 

Wild crests as pagod ever decked, ' 

Or mosque of Eastern architect. 

Nor were these earth-born castles bare. 

Nor lacked they many a banner fair ; 

For from their shivered brows displayed. 

Far o’er the unfathomable glade. 

All twinkling with the dewdrops’ sheen. 

The brier-rose fell in streamers green. 

And creeping shrubs of thousand dyes 
Waved in the west wind’s gentle sighs.” 


Does it seem possible that we are really 


4o8 


SILVER BOWLS. 


here in this magnificent pass ?” she broke off to 
exclaim, and then she read on through the rest 
of that unrivalled description, while her hearers 
followed her words and glanced from one object 
to the next as she carried them from one to 
another of the beauties of the pass. 

After they had rested for a time, they went 
on till they came to the picturesque little pier 
at which they had landed from the steamer, and 
there they took a row-boat for Ellen’s Isle. A 
strong head wind rippled the black waters of 
the loch into little white-caps, and the girls, who 
had been very anxious to row at first, were very 
willing to resign the oars to Mr. Davenport as 
they found out what hard work it was. 

It seemed indeed like stepping into the land 
of poesy to disembark beneath the aged gnarled 
oak from which Ellen’s skiff had darted, and 
looking across the loch they could see the peb- 
bly beach of the “ silver strand ” where the 
Lady of the Lake landed and stood listening 
while Douglas watched her charms. It was 
hard to tear themselves away from the witchery 
of this beautiful island, and when at fast they 
reluctantly obeyed Mr. Davenport’s summons, 
they came with their hands laden with the 
heather which grew in such luxuriance, even 
hanging in masses of bloom from the rocks 
themselves. 


IN THE TROSSACHS. 


409 


By the time the party reached the hotel again 
they were ready to do full justice to their mid- 
day meal, for the exhilarating air and the exer- 
cise had both done their part in sharpening their 
appetites. 

After lunch and a short rest the girls started 
out for another walk by themselves, for Mr. 
Davenport announced that he was tired, and 
had some business letters to write besides. Both 
Grace and Louise discovered that they were not 
ambitious enough to attempt the ascent of the 
ben behind the hotel, which they had promised 
themselves they would surely climb, and after 
they had struggled for a short distance up its 
slippery sides they were glad to sit down upon 
a gray boulder and look down upon the placid 
loch without making any further effort to climb 
higher. They had much to talk about as they 
sat there, and the pleasure of each was height- 
ened by the enthusiasm of the other. They re- 
mained there until Grace, glancing at her watch, 
was reminded that it was nearly time to prepare 
for dinner, and they were obliged to make their 
way back to the hotel. 

After dinner they watched the soft twilight 
deepen until it hid the bens from their sight, 
and then they found a quiet corner of the read- 
ing-room and read papers from home, which 
were doubly welcome to the wanderers. 


410 


SILVER BOWLS. 


Grace awoke about five o’clock the next morn- 
ing, and before composing herself for another 
nap she jumped up and went to the window. 
Drawing back the curtain, she glanced out eager- 
ly to see what the weather was going to be for 
their Sunday at this charming place. It was a 
gray foggy morning, with veils of mist wrapping 
themselves about the heads of the bens and 
trailing down their sides and across the dark 
waters of the loch. Nature looked dreary and 
desolate, and with a little shiver Grace sought 
her pillow again. 

Two hours later, when the rising-gong re- 
verberated through the corridors, she exclaimed 
in surprise as she opened her eyes. One could 
have imagined that a magician had waved his 
wand and transformed the scene upon which 
she had looked but two hours before. The rays 
of the sun fell over all, touching the waters of 
the lochs until they glistened like molten silver, 
nestling in every seam and scaur in the sides of 
the ben until they were flooded with sunlight, 
and the velvety knolls covered with pasturage 
stood out like islands among the gray boulders, 
with their clinging tufts of purple heather. Over- 
head the sky was a perfect blue, with white 
clouds floating slowly along, and beneath it all 
was peace and beauty. 

Half a mile from the hotel along the winding 


IN THE TROSSACHS. 


41I 

road by the side of the loch the girls had no- 
ticed the little stone kirk, and it was announced 
that service would be held there at twelve. 
When that hour came, so many were turning 
their steps in the same direction that it seemed 
as if the little building would surely be full to 
overflowing. The tourists from the hotel made 
up more than half the number, while mingled 
among them were Highlanders in their pictur- 
esque costume, their kilted skirts and bare knees 
making the party realize that they were indeed 
in the heart of the Highlands. Rosy-cheeked 
little Scotch lads and lassies ran along by the 
side of their fathers, sometimes clinging to their 
hands to keep up with the long strides which 
outdistanced their little feet. The still waters 
of the loch gleamed through the trees as they 
passed along the road, and there was barely 
enough breeze stirring to keep the leaves from 
hanging idly pendulous. The little kirk was 
beautifully situated upon a green knoll over- 
looking the water, and a steady stream of church- 
goers were thronging through the door. 

The girls would have been quite disappointed 
if the interior had been in all respects like the 
home churches, and their attention was at once 
directed to the narrow seats, upon which it 
seemed at first almost impossible to keep one’s 
balance. By degrees they became accustomed 


412 


SILVER BOWLS. 


to it, however, although they were not as com- 
fortable as the luxurious pews which they had 
enjoyed at home. 

The minister entered the pulpit, which was 
literally a pulpit and not a platform, as the sweet- 
toned bell rang out its summons to those who 
had paused to linger in the kirkyard. His black 
silk gown with white bands was in keeping with 
the simplicity of the building. The service va- 
ried in many particulars from the form to which 
they had been used, and they were all the more 
interested on that account. The worship began 
with a hymn, followed by a long prayer. Per- 
haps it was more of a disappointment to the girls 
than they would have been willing to admit, 
that the young preacher had no marked accent, 
and they listened eagerly for it ; but he might 
have been from their own land, he was so free 
from any trace of a peculiar dialect. 

After the prayer he read a Psalm, closely fol- 
lowed by the congregation with their Bibles in 
their hands, and this was succeeded by the sing- 
ing of the metrical version of a Psalm. A read- 
ing from the New Testament was followed by 
the singing of another Psalm, the congregation 
invariably rising for the singing, and then a 
prayer was followed by a hymn, after which the 
minister announced his text, and preached a 
simple and practical discourse, half an hour in 


IN THE TROSSACHS. 


413 


length. A hymn was sung, after which another 
prayer was offered, especially remembering the 
Royal family and all in authority, and was suc- 
ceeded by another hymn. The collection was 
then taken in boxes fastened upon sticks reach- 
ing the length of the pews, and immediately af- 
ter the collection the service closed with the 
benediction. 

The whole service had occupied a little over 
an hour and a half, but it had not been in the 
least wearisome. There was a simplicity and 
tenderness about it that made even the stran- 
gers feel one with these people of another land 
who were worshipping with the church universal 
all over the world. 

In the afternoon the girls climbed again to a 
velvety knoll upon the side of Ben A’an, with 
their Bibles in their hands, where they could lift 
their eyes from the printed page and look down 
upon the green fields and silvery waters. Quite 
in harmony with the spoken sermon was the 
silence and the indescribable beauty of God’s 
handiwork. 

“He maketh me to lie down in green pas- 
tures ; he leadeth me beside the still waters.” 

The words came involuntarily to Louise’s 
thoughts as she sat there. In the stillness which 
brooded alike over wild pass, still waters, and 
green fields heaven seemed very near and dear, 


414 


SILVER BOWLS. 


and the world with its cares and sorrows very 
far away. Nature whispered tenderly of the In- 
finite love which shepherds us both in the valley 
of sorrow and upon the heights of joy. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 
all the days of my life.” Tears that were not al- 
together tears of sorrow filled Louise’s eyes. Her 
father, her own dear father, had passed through 
the valley of the shadow of death, but he had 
not passed through it alone. She had never 
realized that quite so fully before. 

“Yea, though I pass through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for 
Thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me.” 

And it had been no strange hand that had 
guided him through those dark waters. It had 
been the Friend whom he had loved and trusted 
and leaned upon all his life, and into whose 
hand he had been able to commit all the order- 
ings of his life, trusting in the wisdom and love 
of his Father as implicitly as his children trust- 
ed in his love. And he was so happy now ! Al- 
though he had been blessed by more of affection, 
trust, and home happiness than many another 
man, yet there had been many cares and much 
anxiety in his life, and his very love for his dear 
ones had added to his burdens. But now Louise 
could forget her heartache for a glimpse of the 


IN THE TROSSACHS. 


415 


dear face, her longing for one more word from 
those loving lips, when she remembered his 
happiness. 

It was a Sunday never to be forgotten, and 
when at last the sun went down in a glory of 
crimson and gold, making the western sky as 
radiant as if it was a reflected glimpse from the 
Celestial City, and the twilight faded away into 
darkness, Louise knew that the remembrance of 
that day would be one of the most tenderly cher- 
ished memories of her life. 


4i6 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 

SIGHT-SEEING. 

It was with the greatest reluctance that the 
little party left the Trossachs the next morning 
and started for Edinburgh, and not even the 
delightful coach-ride over the shoulders of the 
bens to Aberfoyle could reconcile the girls to 
the fact that they were leaving behind them the 
land of the Scottish minstrel. 

They reached the beautiful city, enthroned 
upon her three hills like a queen, about the mid- 
dle of the afternoon, but they were too tired 
from their journey to undertake any sight- 
seeing that day. The next morning Mr. Daven- 
port procured a guide-book and a cab for them, 
and told them that they might roam about at 
their own sweet will while he was attending to 
the business which brought him to this city. 

I wish we could follow them as they visited 
the castle and the palace, both of which were 
overflowing with historical interest that charmed 
these visitors from the new world. Scarcely 
less interesting was the house of the great re- 
former John Knox, the plain stone building 
which apart from its age would have no interest 
to the passer-by if it were not for the fact that 


SIGHT-SEEING. 417 

it had once been the home of one of the greatest 
men the world ever knew. 

Their week in Edinburgh would fill a vol- 
ume in itself, and yet this would give little 
more than a glimpse of that delightful city. 
They were not unaccompanied in their daily 
expeditions. At their first meal in Edinburgh 
a gentleman and his daughter, a young girl ap- 
parently about twelve years old, dressed in deep 
mourning, were seated at the same table with 
them. From bits of conversation which floated 
across the table, Grace and Louise gathered that 
this gentleman was, like Mr. Davenport, visiting 
Edinburgh simply upon business, and that he 
had to leave his daughter in the hotel while he 
was absent. 

“ I hope you will find something to read,” he 
said as he left the table. I wish I could take 
you about a little, but I do n’t see how I can ; 
and I can’t feel easy about letting you go around 
in a strange place by yourself.” 

As Louise and Grace started out the next 
morning they saw the little girl sitting rather 
forlornly in the reception-room with a book in 
her hand, in whose pages she did not seem to 
be greatly interested ; both of them pitied her 
and thought how dreary the day would seem to 
her shut up in a hotel, in the midst of so much 
that was interesting. At lunch-time there were 

Silver Bowls. 27 


SILVER BOWLS. 


418 

traces of tears about her eyes, and a plan sug- 
gested itself to Grace which she unfolded to 
Louise. 

“ Suppose we invite that girl to go out with 
us this afternoon,” she whispered. “ I know it 
wont be half as nice as being by ourselves, but 
I suppose her father would be perfectly willing 
to have her go out with us, and she must be 
dreadfully lonely sitting around in the hotel all 
day long. I feel as if it would spoil things hav- 
ing a strange child with us all the time, and yet 
it does seem too bad for her to miss everything 
because she has no one to go with. What do 
you say?” 

“ I was thinking about the very same thing,” 
Louise answered, “ only I did not like to suggest 
it. I feel as you do that it would be much more 
pleasant to be alone, but if you are willing to in- 
vite her to join us, I certainly am.” 

‘‘ It is our old schoolgirl motto again, ‘ Doe 
ye nexte thynge,’ ” Grace said. 

The look of gratitude which lighted up the 
sad little face did much towards repaying them 
for the real self-denial which it involved. It 
might seem perhaps but a small matter to bur- 
den one’s self with a stranger on these expedi- 
tions, but as a matter of personal preference the 
girls would rather have been members of a large 
party than to have had this single stranger with 


SIGHT-SEEING. 


419 


them, for in the former case they could have 
enjoyed a considerable amount of confidential 
chat, and in the latter they could never be for- 
getful of the courtesy due their companion, and 
of the fact that she was entirely dependent upon 
them for entertainment. They were both un- 
selfish girls, however, and had accustomed them- 
selves to self-denial for the sake of others, and 
after they had proffered the invitation were de- 
termined that no shadow of reluctance should 
mar its cordiality. It was really less of a draw- 
back than they could have imagined, however, 
for Irene Coolidge was an interesting child and 
very appreciative of the kindness shown her by 
these two young ladies. She was only twelve 
years old, and when the girls learned that she 
had lost her mother but a month before and had 
no relative who could in any way take the place 
of a mother in care and companionship, they 
were more glad than before that they had not 
left the sad little heart to brood over her loneli- 
ness in the hotel alone. 

Mr. Coolidge could hardly find words in 
which to express his appreciation of the kind- 
ness shown to his little daughter, and when he 
told the girls what a shy sensitive child Irene 
was, and how reluctant he had been to put her 
at school among strangers, particularly just now 
when her heart was so sore, they could appre- 


420 


SILVER BOWLS. 


date his desire to keep the child with him, even 
if it did not seem in many ways the wisest thing 
that could be planned. 

It is one of the surprises with which one 
continually meets when travelling abroad to 
come in contact with people who are one’s next- 
door neighbors at home, and Mr. Davenport was 
astonished upon entering into conversation with 
Mr. Coolidge to learn that he intended going 
into business in Weston upon his return to the 
States and had come abroad to perfect some ar- 
rangements for opening a manufactory there. 
Perhaps it was because Louise had learned that 
rare sympathy which comes to one only through 
sorrow that she found her heart going out to 
the lonely little child, and could so often say 
something to comfort her in the hours when it 
seemed as if nothing could soothe her passion- 
ate grief for her mother. She was but a child, 
and during the day in the midst of strange 
sights her interest would be absorbed in them 
and she would forget her loneliness ; but every 
evening her grief would break out afresh, and 
her sorely perplexed father would try in vain to 
comfort her with promises of pleasure upon the 
morrow or proffered gifts. 

I only want mamma,” she would sob, until 
he was in despair. 

When he found that Louise could take the 


SIGHT-SEEING. 


421 


sobbing child in her arms and whisper to hei 
words that hushed her sobs and comforted her 
grief, his gratitude knew no bounds, for he was 
devoted to his only child and would have spared 
nothing that would make her happy. He al- 
most forgot his own loneliness in trying to fill 
the place of father and mother both to the little 
girl, and the consciousness of his inability to 
give her a mother’s care distressed him greatly. 
Grateful little Irene was fond of both Grace and 
Louise, but it was to the latter she clung and to 
whom she gave the wealth of love which a child 
can lavish so readily upon any one who earns 
its gratitude. 

Mr. Coolidge began to feel anxious lest when 
she should be parted from this new-found friend 
her grief would be more inconsolable than ever. 
He mentioned this fear to Mr. Davenport one 
evening when he was enjoying an after-dinner 
chat with that gentleman, and he was greatly 
pleased when Mr. Davenport suggested to him 
a possible arrangement which he might perhaps 
be glad to make. Mr. Davenport had greatly 
regretted the necessity which had been apparent 
for Louise to leave home and take a position 
which was in many ways one for which she had 
little taste ; and while he admired her inde- 
pendence and the bravery which she had shown 
in entering uncomplainingly a life which must 


422 


SILVER BOWLS. 


have had very much that was hard in it, yet he 
had more than once tried to think of some plan 
by which he could find her more congenial em- 
ployment. He would have been perfectly will- 
ing to offer a place in his own home, had he 
been able to contrive any position by which she 
could feel that she was really of use ; but this 
seemed impossible, and though he had really 
been very glad to have pleasant company for 
his daughter on this trip, yet he could not well 
perpetuate the office of companion after they 
should reach home again. 

It now occurred to him that here was an op- 
portunity that, if it should impress Mr. Coolidge 
favorably, would give a comfortable home, a 
mother’s care, and good instruction to little 
Irene, and add to the income of the Rushtons 
so materially that Louise need not think of 
leaving home again. 

Mr. Coolidge had asked him about the hotels 
in Weston, and after avowing his preference for 
hotel life as far as comfort went, said that on 
Irene’s account it would be better if he could 
find a pleasant boarding-house. When he told 
Mr. Coolidge Louise’s circumstances, he found, 
as he had expected, that that gentleman was 
enthusiastic over the possibility of . finding a 
home for Irene with the friend to whom she 
had already become so greatly attached, and he 


SIGHT-SEEING. 


423 


added that if Mrs. Rush ton would be willing to 
take him into her home too, he would gladly 
give up the greater luxuries of more preten- 
tious accommodations for the sake of being with 
his little daughter and having her in a home 
with refined people who would be kind to her 
and help him, as only people of that kind could, 
in her training. 

There could scarcely have been a plan pro- 
posed which would give every one more genuine 
satisfaction. Irene was wild with delight, and 
Louise was scarcely less pleased. Besides her 
pleasure at the prospect of having the lonely 
child with her, and trying to comfort and help 
her, it was happiness inexpressible to think that 
she would now be able to stay at home, and be 
with her mother instead of away among uncon- 
genial surroundings. She was sure in advance 
of her mother’s approval of the schem^e. 

It seemed a strange thing, almost beyond 
the possibility of human happenings, that there 
in this strange land she should have had “ ye 
nexte thynge ” in her life-work brought to her. 
And yet there are but few of us who cannot re- 
member just such unexpected leadings of the 
Divine Hand. 

Once in a while the thought of the drudgery 
that would await her upon her return had 
clouded for a little the pleasure of the present ; 


424 


SILVER BOWLS. 


but Lousie had tried to banish all such thoughts 
as ungrateful ones, when she had so much to 
be thankful for that this pleasure should have 
come into her life at all ; but now the future 
looked very bright with this new plan to .look 
forward to upon her return to the home-land. 

After this plan had been spoken about, of 
course little Irene was no drawback to the en- 
joyment of either of the girls, and Grace, who 
was as greatly pleased as any one else at the 
prospect of having her friend at home again, 
did her best to make the child enjoy herself. 
Mr. Coolidge had planned to sail by a later 
steamer, but he found it possible to hasten 
matters of business so that he might cross the 
ocean with his new-found friends. 

The last ten days in the old world passed 
rapidly, and it was with a strange commingling 
of joy and reluctance that the little party step- 
ped aboard the steamer which was to take them 
back to their home-land. The days sped all 
too quickly for those who were well and able to 
enjoy the trip ; and to Louise, who enjoyed every 
moment of the sea voyage, it might have been 
ten times as long without being tedious. 

When at last the steamer touched the wharf, 
and she found herself clasped in her mother’s 
arms, she could hardly believe that it had not all 
been a dream, and that her trip to the old world 


SIGHT-SEEING. 


425 


had not existed only in her imagination. Brown 
and ruddy and vigorous, the mother’s eyes 
could see at a glance how greatly the change 
had benefited her, although it had been so 
gradual a gain that Louise herself had not no- 
ticed when her tired feelings finally left her to 
give place to this old-time vigor. 


426 


SILVER BOWLS. 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 

THE END. 

After all, is there ever any end to a story, 
to the record of any one’s life ? It cannot even 
end when it is shrouded in the mists of death 
and passes from this life to enter upon the glories 
of the life beyond. One’s influence goes on 
and lives in other lives, and thus extends in 
ever - widening circles until the outermost one 
shall reach the shores of eternity itself. 

Instead of the end of our story, this shall be 
merely a breaking off for a time of our tracing 
this single thread in the web of human life. 
Apart from the tender sorrow of their constant 
sense of bereavement, life was brighter now 
for the Rushton family than they had dared to 
hope it might ever be again. They could be to- 
gether, and that was a happiness that was keenly 
appreciated, and the presence of the motherless 
little Irene was only a pleasure instead of a 
care, while the desolate child’s heart was com- 
forted by the never-failing love and tenderness 
which were bestowed upon her as freely as if 
she were really a member of the family circle. 
Mr. Coolidge, too, had begged to come, and his 
return for being admitted to this home was so 


THE END. 


427 

liberal that it relieved the great burden of 
financial anxiety which had almost constantly 
borne so heavily upon Mrs. Rushton. 

In the hours when she was not teaching Irene, 
Louise continued her studies, trying to fit her- 
self for greater usefulness when the opportunity 
should come. 

And this new arrangement brought happi- 
ness to others as well. When Louise wrote re- 
signing her position as cashier, her former em- 
ployer had found so satisfactory a substitute in 
Mallie that he offered her the place, and the 
regular salary, small as it was, seemed a fortune 
to the girl. It was a very different home now 
from the wretched one, marred by discontent, 
ill-temper, and illness, to which Louise had gone 
only a few months before. The love of God was 
transforming that household, and the look of 
quiet content upon Mallie’s face, that had for- 
merly been so fretted with bitter unrest and 
anxieties borne alone, told its ov/n story. 

It had been a humble work that Louise had 
been sent to do, when her “ nexte thynge ” had 
been to go into that dreary home as one of the 
family and there to let her light shine for 
Jesus. It was work that had not seemed very 
inviting, still perhaps others, with greater tal- 
ents, could not have done as well as she did. 
Yet if a silver bowl takes its place in service, 


428 


SILVER BOWLS. 


need it want any greater honor than to be used 
in any way whatever? For after all, to the 
Master, since we render willing obedience to 
whatever he asks, what matters it whether what 
we do is great, as we esteem great things, or 
small, as we contemn the little things that we 
so often count scarcely worth doing? To do 
the next thing that he puts before us is glory 
enough to make an angel speed willingly on the 
least errand that could be given to us, 

“ It is not mine to run with eager feet 
Along life’s crowded way my Lord to meet ; 

It is not mine to pour the oil and wine, 

Or bring the purple robe or linen fine ; 

“ It is not mine to break at his dear feet 
The alabaster box of ointment sweet, 

It is not mine to bear his heavy cross. 

Or suffer for his sake all pain or loss ; 

“ It is not mine to walk through valleys dim 
Or climb far mountain-tops alone with him ; 

He hath no need of me in grand affairs 
Where fields are lost or crowns won unawares. 

“ Yet, Master, if I may make one pale flower 
Bloom brighter for thy sake for one short hour, 

If I in harvest-fields where stray ones reap 
May bind one golden sheaf for love to keep, 

“ May speak one quiet word when all is still. 

Helping some fainting heart to bear thy will. 

Or sing one high clear song on which may soar 
Some glad soul heavenward — I ’ll ask no more.” 


BOOKS 

BY 

MRS. GEORGE A. PAULL. 

(MINNIE E. KENNEY.) 


I. Mrs. Morse’s Girls. 282 pp. i2mo. $1. 

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fined, and the general tone and teaching of the book are 
excellent.” congregationalist. 

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METH. PROTESTANT. 

II. Bernie’s Light. i2mo. 272 pp. $110. 

“ The charming story of a young girl whose light was 
kindled at a Mission Sabbath-school, and brought cheer to 
many in dark places.” Occident. 

III. Whatsoever Ten. 295 pp. i2mo. |i 25. 

“ A simple story of village life, where a company of 
girls are instructed by an invalid handmaid of the Lord in 
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interesting.” Chicago standard. 

IV. Christie’s Next Things. 263 pp. i2mo. $1. 

“ This is one of the best stories that this writer has 
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A sparkling, well-told, capital story, which will be read 
with both interest and profit. 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 


HEW BOOKS 

PUBLISHED BY THE 

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150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK ; 

BRANCH STORE, 48 EAST 23D STREET, NEW YORK. 

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MR. GROSVENOR’S DAUGHTER. 

A story of city life. By Julia MacNair Wright. 
i2mo. $i 50. 

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long year. Mrs. Wright has written many interesting stories, 
every one with a useful purpose, but never one more interesting, 
never one with purpose half so practical as this. The book 
should be in every Sunday-school library.” — n. y. evangelist. 

ON A SNOW-BOUND TRAIN. 

By Julia MacNair Wright. i2mo. $i 25. 

A train on the Pacific Railway is snowed in and makes but 
little progress for nearly a week. The passengers get restless 
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all a point and a purpose that render them highly attractive. 

ADAM’S DAUGHTERS. 

By Julia MacNair Wright. 4 illust. $i 50. 

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FROM OLIVET TO PATMOS: The First Chris- 
tian Century in Picture and Story. 

By Mrs. L. S. Houghton. Quarto. Profusely 
illustrated. 

This is a continuation of Mrs, Houghton’s popular series of 
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“ The Life of Christ in Picture and Story ” have already been 
publi.shed. It gives the story of the apostles and the interesting 
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an account of the Epistles in the order of the history. 

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By the same author^ and uniform, 

THE BIBLE IN PICTURE AND STORY. 

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240 pp. Cloth, $i 25 ; gilt extra, $1 75. 

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LIFE OF CHRIST IN PICTURE AND STORY. 

Quarto. 296 pp. 190 illustrations. $i 50; gilt 
edges, $2. 

The same book in German, with the same illus- 
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AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, NEW YORK. 


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Being Precious Promises arranged for daily 
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THE ESSEX LAD who became England’s 
Greatest Preacher. 

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THE STANDARD OF CHICAGO. 

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